Final Fantasy IX: Legacy Disc 1
by Rytir
Summary: Part 1 of 4. This follows the story of a normal everyday person, named Sepheris, dragged into the world of Final Fantasy IX, his only help in the world, as he travels with Zidane and his crew, is a mysterious voice that only he can hear.
1. Chapter 1: Enter The Game

Greetings people. Well, after looking around for a few months, I've finally decided to write my own fic. I've chosen Final Fantasy IX because, next to the Zelda series, this is my favourite game, and as a result my knowledge of the story and things is fairly accurate (it helps that I'm actually re-playing the game too), beside, there's internet sources for any info I'm lacking. Essentially it's just a re-write with an OC thrown in, I'll try and keep the story as close to the game as possible, but some parts will change, or be added.

Well, enough with this, and onto the story!!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of it's characters, I only own my OC. Which is a shame, I'd definitely remake the game with shiny new graphics and voices.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 1

Hey there, names Sepheris, welcome to the black void that I currently call unconsciousness. I should wake up soon, well, _he _said I would anyway, but I suppose I still have a bit of time. Hmm, I know, I'll fill you in on how I got here first.

* * * * *

The day hadn't exactly gotten off to a fantastic start, largely in part to walking my dogs in the heavy rain, my roommate's exact words were; "I thought you were only taking them for a walk, you didn't have to go swimming you know." His face ended up on the receiving end of my thrown coat, he didn't find it too funny, I disagreed.

Anyway, my roommate had already made plans for the day (and needless to say, they didn't include me), so he took his car and left me home alone. After getting a shower to warm myself up, the weather still showed no signs of clearing up. So with little else to do, I decided to root through my big pile of games for something to play. After several minutes of digging, I managed to pull out my old copy of Final fantasy IX.

"Huh, been a while since I played this," I stated to no one in particular. Getting up, I wandered over to my roommate's PS3, I still don't know why he got it, he owns about 5 games and rarely plays them, but I suppose it has its uses, like now. I power the machine up and press the eject button to take anything out. Unsurprisingly, nothing appeared, my roommate _never_ left a disc in a console, he seemed to think that it could damage the console, or disc, I generally called him an idiot for it, especially since I've left discs in consoles for several years now with no problems.

Once I took the first disc out of it's case, I noticed one or two scratches on the surface, then I remembered why I hadn't played it in a while. I lent it to a friend a couple of months back, and well, he doesn't exactly take care with any discs (his own, or mine), he still gets shocked when they stop working. Anyway, I put the disc into the console and crossed my fingers that it worked. After logging in and everything, the disc was still reading, and after 5 minutes, I'd almost given up hope, but then it appeared, Playstation 1 format disc. After selecting it, the old PS1 logo flashed up and the screen went white.

"GOD DA-, huh?" the screen was still white, but the familiar title screen music was playing through the TV, figuring a cable had come loose, I grabbed hold of the TV and gave it a bit of a shake in a vain attempt to fix the problem (I couldn't be bothered sorting through all the wires behind it). The moment I let go of the TV however, the white screen grew brighter, before completely engulfing my vision, and I believe I fainted.

When I came too, the music had stopped, but the white was still everywhere, which was strange as I could still see myself. Boredom quickly set in as I found there was absolutely nothing here to do.

"_Welcome to my world, Sepheris_" a hollow voice echoed, seemingly coming from everywhere at once, from the sound of it I assumed the owner was male, "_no doubt you are wondering where you are and what you are doing here,_"

I had to admit, the disembodied voice had a point. I initially assumed the TV had fallen and hit me in the head rendering me unconscious, "hmm, I guess your right, care to shine a little light on my situation?"

"_Certainly, you only need but to ask,_" the voice continued, I was still looking around for the source, "_you have entered my world, the one you refer to ask Final Fantasy IX,_" and he lost me, believing that I'm talking to another person, and not just my subconscious was one thing, but in a video game? I think the voice realised that I wouldn't believe that as he continued, "_you can choose to believe me or not, but you will find out the truth upon your awakening in Alexandria. Now I'm not sure who brought you here, before you ask, even I am unsure as to why you're here, but I'll do my best to guide you. Now, is there any final questions you have, before waking up?"_

I was completely stumped, there were many things I wanted to ask, specifically, is he serious? But I decided to play along, if I did wake up in the game, I'd like to be at least somewhat informed, "Okay, a few things, first, if you have to call me by name, shorten it to Seph, please, no one calls me by my full name. Second, if I really am in the game, how exactly are you going to guide me? You haven't even revealed yourself to me, and on that note, the last thing. Your name?"

"_Heh, you need only ask about that first one, after all it is your name. Second, I haven't revealed myself to you as I do not have a physical form, per-say, I will still be able to talk to you outside of here, but it will only be in your mind so no one else can hear me, however, I will see and hear everything you do. And finally, you may refer to me as... Alex,_" the pause made me think that he just thought up a name on the spot, but I didn't get the chance to question it, "_now that your questions have been answered, it is time for your legacy to begin._"

And that's where everything went black. So, now your caught up, and just in time, I think I'm waking up. Lesse if this 'Alex' was speaking the truth.

* * *

And that's chapter 1. To be fair, that actually ended up longer than I initially thought. Well, time to start on chapter 2, and please leave reviews, let me know if you find any mistakes and what you think of the story so far.

Oh, also, my OC has a little section set up in my profile.


	2. Chapter 2: Alexandria

Welcome back, glad you could join us. Hmm, 2 reviews, I can live with that for a first story/chapter, especially since I only updated it yesterday. Well, I can't really think of much else to say, so I'll just respond to your reviews and move on with the story.

* * * * *

**Galbatorix 0wnz**: Yeah, going back, I probably wouldn't have believed it so quickly, I have now gone back and made a few minor changes, to hopefully make it a bit more believable there. As for the story line, I didn't have anything really planned, I intended on going with the story and seeing what happened, but thinking about it, your right, I probably will need to change the story in a big way.

**The Duelist of Dawn**: Glad you like the story so far. As you can see above, I've changed how I'm going to go about the story, so it will likely veer off at some point.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: Hmm, nope, still don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, I guess wishing just isn't enough. I do, however, own my character, Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 2

Opening my eyes, the light quickly flooded in, momentarily blinding me. I pulled myself out of the bed I found myself in while my vision gradually returned. I was in a small room, just big enough to fit the single bed, a small cupboard and enough room to stand and open the door, with light flooding in through the only window set in the wall just above the head of the bed. It was small, but cosy. After a quick scan I noticed a canvas bag, containing something.

_Nice to see you're awake_

"Ah!" the voice sure startled me, wasn't really expecting it, "yeah. I guess you weren't lying about the game then, or I hit my head harder than I thought,"

_Sure, well, now that you're awake I suppose you should get moving then. Oh, and don't forget to take that bag, you'll probably need it._

I got up from the bed and noticed my clothes for the first time. I had a white short sleeve shirt on, with the collar left open, a pair of faded green pants held up with a leather belt and brass clasp and a pair of worn leather shoes. I also noticed a layer of chainmail under my shirt, obviously to offer some protection.

After taking in my appearance, I grabbed a hold of the bag and looked at the contents. Inside was a large wooden scabbard holding two short swords, with a handle at either end. Both hilts were carved in identical fashion, just an ornate design, not meant to look like anything in particular, both gold in colour with a single clear gem set in the middle. After admiring the weapons for a couple of moments, a thought occurred to me, "not to be a pain really, but I can't fight. I've never had a reason to before, and I've never used weapons before,"

_I figured you'd ask me that, you needn't worry. Currently, our connection grants each of us the other's powers and abilities, as the link grows stronger, the powers and abilities granted grows. You should find you are more capable with those weapons then you realise. Trust me, when the need arises, you will be more than capable of protecting yourself._

"Seems like I've gotten the better end of this deal then,"

_From your perspective, you would think that, and no, I'm not telling you what I get, you'll just have to wait_

I picked up the bag and threw it over my shoulder, using its strap to hold it in place; I figure I might attract unwanted attention walking around if I displayed my weapon everywhere. As I leave the room, I found myself on an upstairs balcony indoors. A set of stairs wound down and ended right in front of what could only be described as a reception, likely where the occupants pay for their rooms, speaking of which, "hey, Alex, did you provide me with any money so I can pay for the room or anything?" I asked as I made my way towards and down the stairs.

_I apologise, but I didn't provide you with any Gil, I figured would be able to make what money you needed, or find it. But you needn't worry about the room; it was paid in full when you arrived. Oh, and one last thing, if you're not wanting to attract attention to yourself, you may want to stop talking out loud, just use your mind._

After he finished, I looked around the reception area and found every one was looking at me as though I had lost it. Well, I couldn't blame them; I was just talking to myself. Before anyone could say anything, I picked up my pace and marched straight out the front door, '_you couldn't have told me sooner, huh?_'

_And spoil the fun when you realised what you were doing? Anyway, I figured you'd want some help meeting up with the others. Check your back pocket, that may help you._

Surely enough, in my back pocket was a ticket to the play, '_gee thanks, I suppose the rest of how I actually get aboard the airship is left up to me?_' I asked, but strangely, he didn't respond this time. Shrugging it off, I notice that I'm at the entrance to Alexandria; the statue in the middle gave it away. With my bearing gathered, I set off towards the square where the ticket booth is, get my ticket marked, or whatever. I never really knew why Vivi went there.

The walk was uneventful, although a few of the running kids got in my way, it was nothing really. As I entered the square and approached the ticket booth, I overheard someone in the tent, "Nooooo!" Well, at least I found Vivi.

As I entered the ticket booth, I saw the Ticketmaster just handed Vivi the cards, "Talk to Alleyway Jack to learn more about Cards. Good luck, lad!" the Ticketmaster told Vivi. As he turned towards me, I simply handed him my card, and turned towards Vivi before he left. "Hey, what's wrong?" it's always better to cover your bases instead of blurting out information you shouldn't know.

"He just found out his ticket for the play was a fake, I've seen so many today," the Ticketmaster answered for him.

"Huh, well tell you what; I'll let you have my ticket if you want. I suppose I could always watch another show another time," Vivi was obviously thrilled at the idea.

"R-Really?" I simply nodded; I wasn't too bothered about seeing the show anyway, and besides, Vivi was elated at the offer.

"While that's considerate of you, I'm afraid your ticket's a fake as well,"

_Heh_

'_I wish I was surprised,_' I figured he knew it was a fake, "well crap, that wasn't cheap either," not that I paid for it anyway, "sorry kid, looks like we're both out of luck," I felt kind of bad really, Vivi looked really depressed, I ended up placing my arm on his shoulder to cheer him up, "come on, we'll find something to do," and with that suggestion, both myself and Vivi left the booth, and ended up walking towards an alleyway to one side of the square, as we walked I took the opportunity to ask Alex a couple of questions, '_you knew about the fake ticket huh?_'

_I figured you had a better chance of meeting up this way than with a real ticket._

'_Ugh, I suppose you have a point there, but why give me a ticket at all?_' but once again, Alex was gone, I swear he's only here when it's convenient for him.

"E-Erm, why are we going this way?" I took notice that I had walked towards the alleyway that Vivi meets Puck without realising it, and Vivi had followed me. Before I could respond however, "Waaah!" *thud*, Vivi tripped.

"Blast it! Hey! You made me miss, you little klutz!" a person hanging a sign from a ladder had managed to miss, and he figured it was Vivi's fault for tripping.

"Tch... He's just a kid, why don't you watch what your doing!" I was helping Vivi up, but still managed a glare at the guy hanging the sign.

"Erp," he faltered a bit before breaking my gaze and going back to the sign and finished hanging it, "Whew. That should do it. Well, it's been a long day," and he climbed down and walked off, away from us.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked, as Vivi was dusting himself off.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he answered with a nod.

As he finished, I noticed a small boy with resemblance to a rat enter the alley from the other end, "Hey you! You're the ones with the phony tickets, ain'tcha? I saw the guy tell you they were fakes!"

"So what if we are?" I already knew where this was going.

"I'll let you see the show if you become my slaves. Well, whaddya say?"

"Hell n-" I was going to deny outright, I already knew how to see the show.

"Alright," unfortunately Vivi beat me to the punch.

"Urk! I wish you'd ask me before signing me up for something,"

"I'm s-sorry. I just really wanted to see the play," to be honest, I couldn't blame him. I'm sure he used all his money on that fake ticket.

_Just go along with it, you know nothing major comes from this anyway._

'Fine, I suppose if he's able to get us in, then I'll go along with it," I decided to listen to Alex this time, besides, I'd hate to disappoint Vivi right now.

"Awesome! Now for your first assignment! Go stand over there and see if anyone's comin' " he indicated the entrance by which me and Vivi had entered. Both of us walked towards it and had a quick look around, while the rat boy looked at the other entrance, after a couple of seconds he called out to us, "all clear?"

"Yeah, all clear over here," I call back.

"Awesome! Engage according to mission parameters!" the rat boy then proceeded to pick up the ladder left by the guy who was hanging up the sign earlier, and run off out of the alleyway.

Vivi looked up at me with a questioning look (at least it looked like one, hard to tell when he doesn't have a proper face), I just shrugged in response and followed after the rat boy, "come on, he said he'd get us there," and Vivi nodded and followed as well.

As we rounded the corner, the rat boy was already at the door to a small church with a steeple on top, "Over here! Don't fall behind! Into the steeple!" he shouted to us, before darting in himself, closely followed by us.

As we entered I took a look around, it wasn't much of a church, just a big empty circular building with a large hollow column in the middle with a ladder running up through it into the steeple.

"Now, we're going to climb this tower! It's very dangerous. You go first," he said, pointing straight at me.

'_Of course it's me,_' instead of responding, I just walked towards the ladders, fortunately I remembered this part of the game. Before I climbed, I grabbed the ladders and gave them a shake and a creature fell down. The creature was a small pink furry creature with bat like wings and a red pompom on it's head, a moogle.

"Wh-What was that?" Vivi was a bit puzzled.

"Sorry 'bout that, kupo!" the moogle said, addressing me.

"Oh, that's Kupo. He's a moogle." the rat boy answered Vivi's question. Before we could actually get acquainted with Kupo, "Alright, time for some upward mobility!" the rat boy, holding the ladder he stole, began climbing the church's steeple. Once he was out of sight we heard him calling down to us, "Okay, come on up, slaves!"

"Y'know, I really wish he wouldn't actually call us slaves," I said to Vivi, before proceeding to climb the steeple as well. As I reached the top, I realised that Vivi hadn't followed, '_must be Stiltzkin, the other moogle. Ah well, I'll see him later anyway,_'

"Hey, slave! I thought I ordered you up here!!!" the rot boy shouted down to Vivi.

'_I'm really starting to hate him now,_' I was actually resisting the urge to kick him off the steeple.

_Patience, it's not much further now, and you'll be rid of him._

As Alex finished his point Vivi had just joined us at the top of the steeple.

"Alright, the play's gonna start if we don't hurry!" the rat boy pointed out, and led us out onto the roofs. As we reached the end of the roof, there was a board of wood spanning the gap as a make shift bridge. The rat boy crossed no problem, however Vivi hesitated as he approached the board, ""Come on! Get over here! Lemme guess... You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," I assured him. Vivi simply nodded and slowly crossed the board, I followed after him.

"Come on, already! We're runnin' outta time!" While the rat boy was annoying, I suppose he had a point. We followed after him, and shortly approached another board bridging a gap, once more Vivi hesitated, "Not again... Don't worry! It won't fall!"

I merely waved Vivi forward, but as he crossed, the board gave way beneath his feet, "Look out!" I went to catch him, but I already knew I wasn't fast enough.

_Impulse Jet Stream!!_

My vision blurred for a second, but when it returned I was standing beside the rat boy, while holding onto Vivi, "Er, you okay?" I asked, lamely, I really didn't know what just happened, but I wasn't about to admit that to them.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine," I had already put Vivi down, I don't even know why I went to save him, I knew he'd make it, I just couldn't help it.

"How did you do that?" the rat boy asked.

"Doesn't matter right now, the show will be starting soon," realising what I said was true, the rat boy turned and began to continue along the path, before stopping after a few feet and turning to face us again.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I don't even know your names!"

"Vivi,"

"Sepheris, I would prefer if you just called me Seph though,"

"Vivi and Sepheris huh? Kinda funny names... My name's Puck! Pleased to meetcha!" he then turned and continued along the route towards the castle without another word, and me and Vivi followed without any further difficulties, but this gave me a chance to talk.

'_Question, what the hell did you do to me?_'

_I merely... used... one of... my abilities..._

'_And what was it?_'

_Impulse... Jet Stream... a sudden... burst... of immense... speed..._

'_I'm not even going to pretend I know how that works. So whats wrong with you then?_'

_You haven't... gained... the ability... yet... Using it... for you... took up... a lot... of energy..._

'_So, this impulse thing is the ability I get from you?_'

_Yes... but... it isn't... the... abilities... true form..._

'_Uh huh, what is it's true form then?_' and once more, Alex was quite, '_typical, you're just avoiding the question, fine rest or whatever,_'

As we crossed the last bridge we were right in front of the castle. The last gap lacked a bridge, and it became obvious what Puck brought the ladder for, "Whew... We finally made it! After this wall, well be inside the castle!" he proceeded to drop the ladder across the gap, and then walked along the new bridge, "C'mon, let's go!"

"Let's go Vivi, looks like we get to see the show after all,"

"Yeah," Vivi nodded, as we both followed Puck into the Castle.

* * *

And I'm going to cut this one off there. This chapter was starting to get a bit long, I'll try and update the next part tomorrow. That should take us into Evil Forest, at least.

Also, don't get used to these once a day updates, I'm just writing while I still remember the ideas I have.

Last note, I'll write a little info about any skills Sepheris uses in the chapter down here.

**Impulse Jet Stream**

An ability of Alex's that provides a short burst of high speed movement. From experience, Sepheris is currently unable to react quick enough to handle the speed, nor is he able to use this ability on command yet.


	3. Chapter 3: I Want To Be Your Canary

Here's chapter 3, glad you decided to return. I know I said I'd try and get this up the day after the last, but I got a bit busy with trying to work out my story in the future, also, my weekend involved alcohol at some point. I said I kept writing while I still had ideas, unfortunately my ideas were for the story as a whole so I started writing them down and trying to work it all together, so now, on the plus side, I have a general idea on where this story is going, and several future chapters already written, now I just have to get there.

* * * * *

**Galbatorix 0wnz**: While it is predictable that I would start with Vivi (you only have to read a few FFIX fanfics, most of them do), it's the easiest way. It'd be hard to start elsewhere without starting before the game. But I'm Glad you like the changes so far.

**The Duelist of Dawn** and **FF and STH** glad you like the story so far, I hope it continues to please you.

Thinking about it, if I ever get a lot of reviewers, I may have to stop responding like this or I'm going to end up with each Chapter starting off with responses longer than the chapter itself.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, they are property of Square Enix, I do however own my OC Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 3

The three of us really cut this one close, the music started more or less just as we arrived, almost as if they were waiting for us.... As the crowd began to applaud, we followed suit. I noticed my height gave me a bit of a disadvantage here, while Puck and Vivi just stood there, I had to crouch to avoid being noticed, and it wasn't too comfortable.

_I hope you enjoy the play, from your memories; they cut out a fair amount in your little game version._

'_I'll try, it couldn't be that bad. Oh, and more one thing, LEAVE MY MEMORIES ALONE!!!_'

_Pfft, I'd like to see you try and stop me. Besides, I'm sure, in time, you'll start to receive some of my memories, possibly. This is just another part of our bond, so deal with it._

I was about to respond, but Vivi interrupted my train of thought, "erm, Sepheris, are you not watching the show?"

I hadn't noticed, but obviously my face must have given away that I wasn't paying attention, I'll have to work on that, "sorry, I was just thinking about something," I whispered in response, waving it off, "and please, call me Seph," Vivi just nodded in response and returned to watching the play. I also turned my attention towards the play, and noticed that Zidane and Blank were already having their little sword fight before running into the castle.

* * * * *

As the show continued, I began to get bored. Really bored. I was actually trying to keep myself awake. As I turned to see how Vivi and Puck were, I noticed Puck was waving us over, obviously with the intention of moving towards the front. I nudged Vivi to get his attention, and when he looked at me, I just pointed him towards Puck, he nodded, knowing what I meant and he walked towards him with me following, at a slow pace while still crouching. Thankfully, everyone was too into the play to notice the three of us walking down the aisle to the front.

We were just getting to the front when I caught sight of something in the air. When I looked up I noticed that is was Zidane and Dagger… er Garnet, I'm going to have to be careful about that, swinging through the air towards the Theatre Ship, both shortly followed by the knight Steiner, who couldn't control his swing and ended up stuck in a wooden wall. It took most of my self control to stop myself from bursting out into laughter, thankfully neither Vivi nor Puck took notice.

Once I had regained control of myself, I turned my attention back towards the play. Unfortunately, I quickly got bored again and found myself doing a mental run through of the game, just waiting for when Zidane and princess Garnet arrived on the stage.

_Will you stop that, it get's annoying after a point. Besides, your missed their entrance entirely._

"Huh," I looked at the stage, Alex was right, I completely missed their entrance. Zidane was stood there, with Garnet hiding her identity under her hood, and Steiner has just arrived on his stage elevator.

"Furthermore…" Baku playing as King Leo stopped in mid sentence. I couldn't actually hear them, but you could see the new arrivals, Zidane and Garnet, whispering with Baku and Marcus who was currently 'restrained' by King Leo's guards.

"Ho? What's all this?" And while they whispered, Steiner was trying to work out where he had arrived.

"Cornelia!" Marcus who was restrained, broke free of the guards and rushed towards Garnet. Once more there is a slight pause while I can just make out that Garnet was whispering to Zidane, obviously a bit unsure of what to do.

"Oh, Marcus!" And once more a slight pause while Zidane was impressed at Garnet's acting and felt to congratulate her, before Baku reminded them the Queen was watching. Even though I couldn't hear them, I could read their lips, or rather match them up to what I remembered, after Baku's little reminder, Garnet continued with the acting, "Oh, Marcus! I missed you so! I wish never to leave thy side! Prithee, lead me from this place!"

"See, King Leo? Thou shouldst give them thy blessing," Zidane decided to get in on the acting too.

"Never! Never leave his side, thou sayest? Foolish banter! I'll not allow it! Cornelia shall marry none other than this man-" Baku as King Leo had walked over to Steiner during his little speech, and clapped a hand onto his shoulder, "-Prince Schnieder. Is that not so, Prince Schnieder?"

"M-Marry the Princess? Me!?" It was surprising Steiner still hadn't grasped the fact that he was in the middle of a play. You'd have thought the fact that he's on the theatre ship or the huge audience might have tipped him off.

"Aye! And this traitorous crew, I will put to death!" As Baku finished, Zidane and Marcus proceeded to 'beat up' the guards, who let off little outbursts of pain.

"Too many of them!"

"Run away!"

They both ran off stage after a little beating. As watching them run, Baku turned to Garnet, "Pray, sweet daughter, come home to the castle with me,"

"Nay, father! I shan't return!" I always found it weird that Garnet could so easily talk with this old language despite having never spoke it herself. If it was me, I'd end up switching back and forth constantly.

"Cornelia… Trouble me no more. This wedding is for thine own welfare. Be mindful of that,"

"Not if I can help it!!!" Everyone on stage turned to look at Marcus, "Now is my moment of vengeance! For my parents, and for my love, Cornelia… I shall cut thee down!" Marcus had drawn his sword and rushes to 'kill' Baku, only Garnet steps in to protect him, and lets out a short grunt of pain, "No… Cornelia!!!"

"Mar…cus, forgive me," Garnet continued, she sounded like she was whispering, which I suppose you would on the verge of death, but she made it loud enough for everyone to hear, "I still love my father…"

"Princess!"

"Cornelia!"

And Steiner is still clueless about the acting that's going on.

"Prithee, forgive my selfishness, father, and spare my sweet Marcus…" Garnet reached a hand out to Marcus, before dropping it, showing that she had 'died'.

"What have I done!? Am I never to hear her loving voice again!? Am I cursed never again to feel her soft touch!? O, cruel fate! Thou hast robbed me of all I treasure!" Marcus still had his sword in hand and made to stab himself.

"Marcus!" Zidane called out as Marcus fell to the floor, joining Garnet.

"Wow, what a show!" I suddenly snapped out of being so drawn into the show by Puck.

"Yeah so sad," I looked over at Vivi to notice he was rubbing his eyes. I realised then that I had a tear running down my cheek.

'_Huh, I guess it's completely different in person than through a TV screen,_' I thought to myself as I wiped it away.

_Glad you enjoyed it._

"I'm glad we climbed all the way over here. How 'bout yo- huh? Uh-oh! Look out!" Both myself and Vivi turned towards Puck to see two of the Pluto Knights running towards us, shouting after us to stop. Without a second thought, Vivi and I ran away, right behind Puck. We didn't get far however, as Vivi tripped. Realising what happened I stopped to help him back up.

"Fools! I'm outta here!" Puck then left us to deal with the knights.

'_Jerk,_' I thought to myself again. As the guards were nearly upon us, I pulled Vivi upto his feet and began to run again, "Vivi, this way!" we were at the front of the big ship, this was where Zidane and Blank had their sword fight earlier, and as the bridge was still there, I had ran onto it and waved Vivi after me. We had run onto the stage during a big mourning scene, every one was crying over Garnet's death and took no notice of us as we continued running while the knights still gave chase, "Leave us alone," I shouted back, I figured they wouldn't listen, but it just felt like it should be said. Unfortunatly we had been driven to a corner, specifically the same corner as the small group of mourners and with little alternative we ran through the middle, making sure to jump over Garnet. However, after a step, I realised Vivi was confronting the knights.

"Don't come any closer," Vivi had charged a small fire spell in his hands and released it at the two knights. It didn't quite go as far as he planned as it set Garnet's robe on fire.

"Ow! That's hot!" Garnet had leapt up and tried to smother the fire with her hands, when that failed, she removed her robe, revealing her identity to everyone watching, including her mother, the Queen.

"Zidane it's time," Baku quickly got back into his role of leader and marched off the stage, undoubtedly to pilot the ship out of here.

"Princess Garnet! let's get outta here!" Zidane said as he help Garnet off the floor.

"What… What is going on here?" Steiner was only just beginning to grasp what was going on.

As they were trying to sort out what was happening, I helped Vivi up once more, "You alright?"

"Y-Yeah. Just tripped, that's all…"

"As long as your not hurt then," I looked up as I saw Zidane approaching us, but before he could open his mouth, I waved it off, "we're both fine over here,"

The news seemed to cheer Zidane up, "good to hear,"

"Princess, I cannot allow you to go. Seize them at once!" Steiner was obviously reacting badly to the news that his princess would be leaving, and the two knights that were chasing me and Vivi fell in beside their leader and prepared to attack us.

As Steiner and his two knight prepared to fight, Zidane drew his two daggers and approached the knights, with two of his friends, Marcus and Cinna, at either side of his with their weapons in hand, "Come on Vivi, let's lend them a hand," as I said it I couldn't help but have a grin on my face. I slung my canvas bag from my back and released the draw strings, letting the bag fall to the floor leaving my twin blades in hand. Taking the leather strap I placed the scabbard back onto my back, leaving one blade handle over my right shoulder and the second at my left hip.

_Hmm, this will be your first chance to get used to the benefits of our bond. Try not to think too much while fighting, just let your instincts fight for you and you'll get the hang of it… There is a release button at the top of each handle, just below the hilt._

Yeah, I had grabbed both swords, but neither budged. I quickly found the release and both blades slid out, meaning I now stood with two glistening blades in hand. I joined Zidane and Vivi, who had equipped his wooden staff, to face Steiner.

We all stood ready to face one another, I found myself slightly crouched, with my left, hand holding the sword so the blade ran down my arm, out in front to act as a shield with my right hand sword ready to strike.

It was one of Steiner's knights that attacked first, he ran straight at Cinna with his blade drawn back, however as he got close he erupted in flames, a fire spell from Vivi I realised, but once the fire dissipated, Cinna stepped in and pounded the knights helmet with his hammer, causing the knight to stagger back a few steps, "I-I'm going to be late for my date," and proceeded to flee off stage.

During his little assault, the second knight charged straight at me and swung his blade at my stomach. Without even thinking, I dropped my left arm and used the reversed blade to block the attack and knock it aside before ramming the hilt of my second sword into his stomach, and finished with my knee to his head as he buckled over, "My fury ends here…," the second knight followed his friend off the stage while shouting to Steiner.

Steiner however was too busy trying to defend himself from Zidane and Marcus. He just couldn't keep up with their fast movements, while he swung his sword at one, the other would dash in from behind, hit him a few times and once he turned his attention, the other would do the same.

Our battle was interrupted with a lurch from the ship as it began it's ascent out of the castle to leave. As we looked towards the front, we saw cannons, all loaded with harpoons and with the Queens order to attack they all fired straight at us. Much of the ship was destroyed as the harpoons hit their target, one even embedded itse;f in the stage, it was a miracle no one was hurt. Just as the harpoons finished, one last cannon fired a huge fireball, however, before it reached us, it stopped momentarily and revealed itself as a bomb (a large fireball with a face, hands, the ability to fly and as it's name suggests, it explodes), and continued to hurtle towards the stage.

Steiner had regained his composure and turned to face us once more, completely oblivious to the threat that had decided to float behind him.

"Hey, look behind you!" Zidane was the first to try and get the knight to turn around.

"I'll not fall for such an old trick," I couldn't blame him, it was one of the oldest tricks I knew. But as we tried to get him to look and defended ourselves from his assault, the bomb continued to grow to the point that it was about to explode.

"Grr, we're not lying, just look!" He still wouldn't listen to me, so I was going to show him. I ran forward with the intention of punching him in the face, I figured if he was lying on his back, he'd see it then. As I pulled back my fist, I found myself unable to stop, "Impulse Blast!" I realised what looked like wind had gathered around my fist, and when I made contact, the power was released in an explosive blast, just without the fire. Steiner was thrown onto his back, while I was launched across the theatre ship stage and crashed into a wall.

I think I hit my head at some point, as the last thing I remember was hearing Steiner shout, "A-A BOMB!!" before a great flash of fire and then everything went black.

* * *

And that's chapter 3, and we had a little bit of combat. I was a little iffy while writing that, unsure if it came out right and that took a bit of time and I'm still a bit unsure about it.

So yeah, Evil Forest next. I should hopefully get the next chapter out before the end of the week. Oh, and new ability.

_Impulse Blast_: What appears to be compressed wind gathers in one of Sepheris' fists. The stored energy is released on contact with the target in a huge burst of explosive wind.

So, cya next time

Also, reviews are appreciated (also, please let me know if there are any mistakes)

Random question; is getting a Beta reader a good idea at all?


	4. Chapter 4: Evil Forest

Salutations! I have returned to the world of ! Heh, I'm not even that far in and I disappear for a while… okay, a long while, it definitely needs a good dusting in here. Anyway, I'm back now and I hope to continue with the updates and not disappear again. I've just finished moving into a new flat and have finally got the internet connected, which should help me actually do stuff here. Unfortunately, as I have been without internet for a few weeks, I haven't had much time for , and I've now got a lot of stories to catch up with too (which I suppose could be either good or bad, depending on how you look at it).

Anyway, I'll just respond to the (now very old) reviews and move onto what you're here for, the story.

**Galbatorix 0wnz**: I'm sure you've noticed my PM response and I fixed that a while ago, right before I disappeared.

**The Duelist of Dawn**: Glad you liked the chapter, and yeah, I figured if you were talking to someone, even in your head, you'd tend to lose concentration on other things. And while I know he has a name, I've found I rarely use it, if I'd known I'd rarely use it, I probably wouldn't have named him.

**FF and STH**: As you can see above, I've gone back and made the corrections (I think). Thanks for pointing those out.

**Hiiro Mizutani**: Welcome along, and thanks for the reviews. Glad to hear that my battle scenes aren't as bad as I originally thought then. As for other SI stories, I already read a few, as well as read others that are completed now, but I'm always happy for more.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, they are property of Square Enix, I do however own my OC Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 4

As I opened my eye, everything around me swam in a murky haze. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my vision, and it worked to an extent. I could make out I was in a forest, the trees above blocked out most light, but I could make out the occasional star signifying that night had fallen. I pulled myself up from the bed of leaves I had fallen on, my head still felt dizzy so I supported myself with a tree nearby until it passed.

Looking around for the first time, I realised that I had no idea where I had landed in the forest. All the trees looked the same, "this is going to be a pain to find the airship,"

_Don't be so sure, the thing is on fire, follow the red glow._

Upon closer inspection, I noticed I could actually see a faint red glow in the distance and after two steps towards it, I realised my balance was still not perfect and the walk back was going to take a few minutes. With the time I had I figured I'd find something's out, '_okay, question, what __did you do on the airship?_'

_Nothing. That was all you. Your body merely used my fighting experience and reacted to the threat and your intentions._

'…_What about the impulse skill?_'

_Again, that was you. I told you, as time passes, you will gain more skills, I cannot forcibly use these skills through you without exhausting myself, and I'm still not 100% after last time. The Impulse Blast was the first of the skills you have gained as your own._

'…_Uh huh. So what about these impulse skills? What are they? How do they work?_'

_Impulse is the use of compressed force. How that force is released determines the result. With the Impulse Blast, you gathered the force in your fist and released it on contact resulting in an explosion of wind, affecting both you and the target. The Impulse Jet Stream I used released the force from the bottom of your feet, allowing you to move at inhuman speed, it was merely my experience with it that allowed me to react at that speed. The impulse itself is incomplete compared to my true skills, but it will suffice for you._

'_I think I get it, I'm more of a learn by doing kinda person anyway,_'

_Yeah, because the incident on the airship showed you knew exactly what you were doing._

'_Sarcastic much?_'

_Y'know, with how often we talk, I'd have thought you could pay attention to your surroundings whilst talking._

A low growl brought me back to the world around me, two Fangs, wolf like creatures, had emerged from the trees just ahead of me. I could see the theatre ship now; the fire had been mostly put out. Turning my attention back towards the Fangs, I prepared myself with my twin blades and decided to charge instead of waiting for them.

I swung both blades in from the side, hoping to stop them from running that way, however I stumbled mid step, obviously not fully recovered from my landing and they took the opportunity to take the initiative. One leapt back and darted around me to my left, as I tried to keep both within my sights the remaining Fang charged straight at me and, before I could respond, clamped it's jaw on my right forearm, resulting in a grunt of pain from me and causing me to drop my sword. With my movement limited like this, I realised that this was merely holding me while the other was going to attack. With me restrained like this, I would struggle to attack or defend, and since I'm not fully recovered that only makes things worse. I considered my Impulse Blast, but the last thing I needed was a concussion, if I don't have one already.  
_  
Then move the blast away from you._

That's when it clicked. I freed my left arm by impaling the sword in the ground and proceeded to gather the force in my hand. This time I faced my open palm at the other Fang and once more I found the words coming to my mouth, "Impulse Burst," and instead of just exploding like last time, the force cannoned forward and the explosion occurred when it hit the Fang. The shock knocked it back into a tree trunk. I heard a loud, audible crack and realised it was its spine. The corpse fell to the ground before dissolving into the mist it came from.

"One down, one to go," I turned my attention back to the other Fang as it released it's grip on my arm and tried to bolt. Thinking fast, I pulled my sword out of the ground and through it with all the strength I could muster with my left hand. The blade spiraled through the air before it embedded itself in the back of the remaining fang. It's corpse collapsed to the ground before dissolving like it's companion, "I'm going to enjoy having ranged skills,"

I collected my swords, and with some difficulty with my injured right arm, I placed them back in their scabbards. As I collected my thrown sword, I noticed a small pile of coins and a card. I collected them up, the coins were gold in colour with a 'G' embossed on them, I placed them in a small pouch with the realization that it must be Gil, and turned my attention towards the card. The card showed a picture of a Fang with several arrows around the edge and a series of letters and numbers at the bottom, along with a trickle of blood running along my hand and down the cards surface, '_wait a minute… trickle of blood?_'

Looking at my arm, blood flowed freely from several puncture marks left by the Fang's teeth. With my adrenalin fading, a dull throbbing pain began to make itself known. Slightly panicked, I pocketed the card and made my way towards the airship hoping to find something to help.

The airship was fairly close and didn't take long to reach, I was just thankful nothing else decided to attack. As I staggered towards the wreck, I saw they had moved what they could salvage out of the ship. The only person outside the ship was Cinna as he stood next to the pile of their stuff; I approached him, still holding onto my arm trying to stop the blood. Yeah, it hurts when you don't have adrenaline to numb the pain.

"Nice to see someone else survived the crash," Cinna looked up after putting down a box he was carrying out, "what the hell happened to you!?"

"Heh, I had a run in with a couple of Fangs, you wouldn't happen to have a spare potion would you?"

"Hmm," he rummaged through a couple of boxes before pulling out a potion and throwing it my way, "here, I suppose I could spare one, but next one ain't free,"

"I'll bare that in mind," I responded before chugging back the contents of the small glass bottle, it was a miracle they survived the crash, "blegh," they didn't exactly taste fantastic, but it did the job. The punctures in my arm faded and a dull throbbing at the back of my head, which I hadn't even noticed, faded away and with it, my vision cleared.

"I'm guessing you've never had a potion before," he asked, I assumed due to my distaste of them, "while drinking them works, most just pour it on the wounds, avoids the aftertaste,"

"Good to know," I figured this definitely wouldn't be my last potion, "hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Zi-" I managed to catch myself, I realised I hadn't actually been told his name, "…Vivi is, would you? He was the small black mage I was with,"

He seemed to look at me a bit before responding, initially I thought he was going to question my hesitation, "Nah, sorry. One of our guys went off to look for the princess earlier, if you're quick you might catch up, and if you're lucky you may find him out there,"

"Which way did he go?" Cinna merely pointed towards a hollowed log, "thanks," and I ran off after Zidane, hoping to catch up.

*SPLASH*

I'd just gotten through the log when I stepped in knee high water, "crap, I hate wearing wet clothes,"

_It could be worse._

"I wish you wouldn't say that. I've learned not to tempt fate," and, as if to answer that, blocking my path, was a lone humanoid creature with a strange purple hat and large ears wearing an open vest with a tattered skirt thing while carrying a large dagger, a Goblin "…told you," was all I could say, before the lone goblin charged straight at me.

Thinking fast, I pulled my left blade out and parried his dagger while I stepped to the right to avoid his charge. With a little more time now, I dropped to a fighting stance, or what I assumed was one, with both swords now drawn. Hell, I'm still learning to fight while going off of what I assume is Alex's instincts. As he turned around to face me again, a Fang had left the trees to join the Goblin.

'_This is all your fault, you know that?_'

_I hardly see how I summoned those creatures._

'_Ugh, I'll get you for this,_' annoyed at my present circumstances, I decided to just finish this as soon as I could. I charged the pair, and expectantly, the Fang jumped to the side to circle me from behind. I brought up my left sword to meet the dagger the Goblin raised to hit me with. As they met, I half turned and brought my right sword down on the head of the Fang that decided to attack while I was busy, '_just like the other two,_' I thought. With it's skull split, I caught sight of it's body dispersing into mist as I turned back to face the Goblin who was having trouble pushing my sword away from it's face. Acting on this, I side-stepped and removed my sword from in front of the Goblin. With nothing to push against, it quickly lost balance and toppled face first into the pool of water. I didn't let it get back up as I impaled my sword through it's back, and it shortly dissolved into mist as well. I quickly collected the gil that they had left behind, along with a potion, and continued on, hoping to find Zidane soon.

I had barely taken three steps before the trees in front of me lit up with a bright light, "Free Energy!" I heard Zidane shout, accompanying the light.

'_Great, that fight made me miss the start of the fight against the Prison Cage,_' I though to myself. I followed the source of the sound and the light of the attack to speed up my progress.

I shortly stumbled across the clearing, and, as I entered it, I immediately saw the Prison Cage, a plant like monster that looks like a giant bulb with vine like arms that end in barbs on either side and a cage on its head, in its cage was princess Garnet. Both Zidane and the knight Steiner were fighting the monster, and Vivi was sat on the ground behind the monster, too afraid to fight. Predictably, Zidane looked completely different, he was glowing a pale pink colour and his whole body was covered in fur with energy radiating from him, '_Trance_,' it was Zidane's attack that I saw through the trees.

"Free Energy!" it was Zidane attacking the plant monster again. I watched as 5 strange symbols appeared glowing on the ground; I didn't get to look at them for long as they began to release energy in blinding explosions aimed at the Prison Cage. The plant monster was obviously heavily wounded from the attack and promptly fled with the princess in tow. Zidane's trance faded in a final burst of light.

"Princess!? PRINCESS!?" Steiner was distraught at being unable to save her.

"What the heck? Where did they go?" Zidane was obviously annoyed that even with the added power of his trance he couldn't stop it.

"She's gone... I was too scared to cast any spells... That monster's probably gonna eat her..." Vivi was blaming himself for being too afraid to attack.

"Don't worry, at least not yet anyway," everyone turned to look at me, obviously not noticing that I had just arrived myself, "that thing was likely a minion, nothing more. It'll have taken the princess back to its master,"

"That mean's the princess might still be--" Steiner was elated that he still had a chance to save her, "Come! We must go find her at once!"

"WHOA!" Steiner's little moment was short lived as another Prison Cage had dropped from above and captured Vivi, "let me go! Help me!" the Prison Cage was hit by a blast of fire as Vivi tried to defend himself.

"Hang on Vivi, we'll save you," I looked to both Steiner and Zidane as they readied their weapons, I smiled and got ready myself.

The Prison Cage made the first move, possibly anticipating our attack, it swung it's left vine in an arc hoping to take us all down, me and Zidane jumped back avoiding it entirely, Steiner didn't react quick enough and took it in the side, knocking him too the ground. The Prison Cage decided to take advantage of this and swung its right vine down to smash into Steiner, however I managed to intercept the attack by crossing my blades and catching it before it could impact. In hindsight I should have used just the one sword as its left vine returned to strike me in the stomach knocking me onto my back as well, my chainmail thankfully prevented the barbs from drawing blood. Zidane had decided to attack the Prison Cage while it was distracted by us and slashed it across the back twice, and once along the side as he ducked one of the vines that it sent to stop him. As the second vine went to deal with him, Vivi blasted the Prison Cage with another Fire spell stopping it. Looking a bit beaten, the Prison Cage raised both of its vines to either side of its prisoner, Vivi. I realised what it planned.

"Steiner, take out the right vine, I got the left. Zidane you finish it,"

"Hmph!" Steiner confirmed, though he didn't like me ordering him, and charged the vine with his sword ready to swing; Zidane nodded and tightened his grip on his daggers. I put my swords back in their sheath and concentrated as much force as I could into my hand.

The Prison Cage had begun to drain energy from Vivi with a purplish lightning that arced from one vine to the other, through Vivi. Not wasting any time, I released my attack at the left vine, "Impulse Burst!" the force just ripped through the vine destroying it, just as Steiner brought his sword down on the other, completely severing it. The remains of both vines dissolved into the mist, soon to be joined by the rest as Zidane dashed in and delivered a flurry of dagger slashes along with another Fire spell from Vivi, when they finished the cage on top was shredded and the Prison Cage collapsed, presumably dead.

"Phew... Th-Thanks" Vivi was more than relieved to be free of the monster.

"Are you alright?" Zidane asked as he approached him.

"Y-Yeah… I think so,"

"That's good, that lightning looked like it hu-" I didn't get to finish however as the Prison Cage got back up and sprayed a cloud of gas at us. Zidane jumped away and I dived backwards remembering at the last minute. Vivi and Steiner on the other hand got caught completely, Vivi promptly collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"UGH!!! P-Prin…cess…" Steiner followed shortly after Vivi and collapsed to the ground as well. The Prison Cage dissolved into the mist, now well and truly dead, obviously that was a last ditch attempt.

"That can't have been good," Zidane was the first of us to respond. As we both approached, I went to check on Vivi, but I already knew his status.

"They're alive, just sleeping," I told him, he looked relieved to know they weren't dead.

"Come on then, we'd better take them back to the ship," he moved to pick up Steiner, "I'll take Sir Rustalot here, you can carry your friend," he finished, picking Steiner up into a piggy back position, and I did the same with Vivi.

As we walked back, I decided to try talking, "so, I haven't had a chance to catch your name," figured I wouldn't want to get caught out later.

"Not surprising, we were a bit busy, name's Zidane, and Rusty here is Steiner, at least I think that's what he was called,"

"Heh, fair enough, I'm Seph, and this little guy is Vivi," I nodded my head over my shoulder to indicate I meant him, although it was a habit really, not that there was anyone else I could be referring to.

"Seph huh? So tell me, where did you learn you learn to fight?"

'_Uh oh, typical that this would come up_,' I probably should have planned for something like this, "Oh, I sorta learnt by doing, no one ever really taught me,"

"I'm the same; I just learnt how to fight from practice," he had a smirk on his face when he said it, "so how did you end up on our ship then?"

"Oh, that. Me and Vivi snuck in to watch the show. We got caught and chased, we ran onto stage and you know the rest," I really didn't feel like explaining the whole story, "which reminds me, sorry about screwing up whatever you were planning,"

"Hey, don't worry about it, everyone's fine and when these guys are back at the ship, we can go and rescue the princess," Zidane said, once more with a big grin on his face, then he noticed something for the first time, "hey, what happened to your shirt?"

"Hmm?" I looked down and saw that it was still covered in blood, "oh, heh heh, I had a fairly bad encounter with a Fang, I've had a potion so I'm fine now," I couldn't help but wish I had a spare shirt or something.

We arrived at the ship wreck more or less as I finished, "y'know, you should probably change that or something,"

"Probably, but with all what happened, I didn't really find time to pack," I couldn't help it, several years of it and I find myself occasionally respond sarcastically without noticing. Zidane just seemed to laugh it off however.

"Ha, s'pose your right there. I could probably dig out a spare shirt on the ship,"

"That would be great," I replied as we entered the ship through a rather large hole in the side.

As we entered we came face to face with Blank. He was one of Zidane's friends. He was just slightly taller than me, possibly helped by his tall red hair. His face is partially covered with what appears to be a belt, which I never understood, and his skin was discoloured in places on his body with stitches. He wore a pair of shorts and another large belt wrapped around him, going across his right shoulder down to his left hip.

"What happened? I thought you went to find the Princess?" He was obviously alarmed that we were carrying two unconscious people.

"Well, we found her, and then lost her again. Oh! And a weird plant creature sprayed these two with a strange gas," It was amazing how Zidane could just make it sound like an every day occurrence.

"A gas you say? I think I have something to help that. You," he indicated at me, "take the little guy to the bedroom, if you get lost, just ask someone to point you the way, I'll be along shortly," I nodded, and left them then.

* * * * *

The walk was short; it was only a couple of rooms over. It probably helped that I already knew my way around. I entered the room and placed Vivi on one of the beds. The room was an alright size and seemed to be spared from a lot of the damage, but it was fairly cluttered, likely a result of the landing. Aside from the bed I had laid Vivi on, there were two other beds as a bunk bed and a set of drawers also covered with clutter.

I sat myself down on the bottom of the bunk beds and waited for either Blank to arrive or Vivi to wake up. I wasn't waiting long when I heard Steiner making a racket as he was taken to his room, obviously only just woken up and a bit annoyed that we hadn't saved Garnet yet. As the noise died down, the door was opened and I was greeted with something thrown in my face.

"Zidane said you were after a spare shirt, so there," I had pulled it off my face to see Blank at the door with a bottle in his hand, "could you leave for a sec, I just want to check if he's alright," he indicated towards Vivi.

"Sure," I nodded before walking past him and out the door. I pulled my old shirt over my head and dumped it on the floor, figured I wouldn't be needing that later, and I shrugged the new one on, over my chainmail vest. It was a cream coloured silk shirt, well shirt might be a stretch, it was more of a vest with a low cut collar, but I was happy to replace my blood stained shirt.

It didn't take Blank long as I had only just finished changing when he opened the door, "okay he's awake now and he should be fine. You can go ahead and see him," I nodded him my thanks and walked into the room to find Vivi sat on the edge of his bed.

"Hey, you alright? You had us worried for a while,"

"S-Sorry,"

"Hey now, I'm not blaming you, I'm just glad to see that your okay," I responded, waving off his apology, "you are okay, right?"

"Oh… Y-Yeah, thanks for helping me," obviously Blank had told him me and Zidane carried the two of them back.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I wasn't about to leave you there. 'Sides, your black magic really helped us there," I stated, he seemed to be a bit depressed, "hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. When that monster caught her, I couldn't do anything..."

"Hey now, don't worry about it-"

"Yeah, we'll go and save her, right Seph?" I had turned around to see that Zidane had walked in while we were talking.

"Yeah, definitely," I affirmed, I couldn't stop a grin appearing on my face.

"Thank you, Mr. Zidane, Sepher…Seph" I smiled as Vivi remembered I preferred my shorter name.

"Whoa, that's the first time anyone's called me 'Mr.' Just call me Zidane, alright?"

"Okay… Zidane,"

"There y'go. Now, I've got to see my boss about something, I'll be back later," Zidane said as he made his way towards the door.

"Wait, mind if I tag along? I'm sure Vivi just needs some rest to recover now anyway,"

Zidane just shrugged, "Sure, I don't mind," so I made after him, but turned toward Vivi just before I left.

"We'll be back soon Vivi, don't worry," I said with a smile.

"O-Okay," he nodded and I left, closing the door behind me.

As I turned, Zidane was stood there waiting for me, "Geez… He was pretty down…" he said while absently rubbing the back of his neck, "Maybe we shouldn't have said we'd save her. I don't know if we'll even be able to find her,"

"Hmm, maybe not," I began, "but then again, I don't think either of us would give up until we do,"

"Heh, yeah. Your right there," he responded, but then he seemed to go into a bit of a daze. I realised this was when he thought back to when he first met her.

'_Huh, I wonder if I have that stupid distant look on my face when I talk to you,_'

_Somehow I wouldn't be surprised._

'_Yeah, that would be just my luck really,_' I figured I should just bring him back to his senses, "Yo, Zidane, are we planning on saving her today?"

"What?" he probably didn't realize how long he had been daydreaming for, "oh… Yeah! What's there to think about!? She's cute… and she's in trouble. That's all that matters,"

"…There you are," Blank had just walked in from a door opposite us, "Why do you look so serious? Uh oh… What are you up to this time?" I'm guessing they've been together so long he could read Zidane like an open book.

"I'm gonna take Seph here and find the princess," I found it odd that he left out Vivi and Steiner. I'll suggest it later instead then, the prospect of just the two of us seemed to flash up as suicide in my mind, or Alex was doing that, I'm not too sure.

"You're crazy, and you're just as crazy for going along with him!" I'm guessing Blank had a similar warning light to me, "you don't even know what's out there," I had a fairly good idea, "besides, there's no way the boss'll allow that,"

"I know…" he looked a bit down trodden, as he idly kicked at the ground.

"Sheez… Why do you always gotta play hero? The boss is gonna kill you," Zidane didn't seem to respond much so Blank continued, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go talk to the boss," he finished, as he made his way up a spiral stair case in the middle of the room.

"I suppose he's right," Zidane was the first to speak, "I'll go have a word with my boss, you can meet me outside, I won't be long,"

'_There is no way I'm going to miss this little fight,_' I thought, "If you don't mind, I think I'll tag along,"

"Suit yourself," he didn't seem to mind me coming along, "I think the boss is this way," and he walked towards the door Blank initially came from, "well, you coming or not?"

"Yeah!" and I jogged after him; closing the door behind me.

We walked past the store room where Steiner was currently locked up and walked down a set of stairs opposite the door. We entered a room that had a few of their musicians sitting around, currently doing nothing. I recognized the room as where you start in the game controlling Zidane and I knew that his boss was in the small room opposite from the door we just came through.

"I'll wait here while you check that room," I didn't think there was much point in me walking in there as well.

"Er, okay," Zidane walked on ahead and entered the small room opposite while I waited outside.

I was left waiting a few minutes when the door flew open with a large man, Baku, walking towards me closely followed by Zidane. Baku stopped just short of the stairs I was currently sitting on before turning to face Zidane who was just across from him.

"You ready!?" Baku was brandishing his large sword in an attempt to appear more threatening than he was.

"Anytime!" was Zidane's response as he removed his daggers from their respective sheaths.

"I ain't holdin' back," was the only warning Baku gave before he rushed to close the gap between himself and Zidane, or at least he would've if he didn't trip half way and face plant the floor. Zidane took this opportunity to rush in and aim a dagger slash across his back, however Baku rolled to the side to avoid it and pulled himself to his feet.

With no time to respond, Baku brought his elbow round to collide with the side of Zidane's head. Zidane staggered back from the blow and ducked narrowly avoiding Baku's sword, while Baku had no time to recover mid swing, Zidane stepped forward under his sword and delivered a twin slash from both of his daggers to Baku's chest.

Zidane was about to continue his little assault when Baku waved him off, "I'll be damned… Bravo!" Baku congratulated Zidane as he approached him. Baku then proceeded to punch Zidane in the gut, "Go find your princess. Gwahahahaha…" Baku then walked past me and out of the room.

I approached Zidane who was still holding his stomach in pain, "you alright?"

"Damn that hurt," was his response as he pulled himself back up, "he pulled his punched 'til that last one," he then looked to me, "C'mon then, we've got a princess to save,"

I placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him running off, "while the prospect of being the hero appeals to me, I think we should enlist the aid of the knight, even if you don't like him,"

Zidane let out a sigh before responding, "I s'pose you're right, we won't do much good if we die before finding her," I'm glad he saw my point, "well let's get him, they put him in where we store our instruments," he led the way to the door with me following behind him.

It was a short walk, as I said the stairs we walked up finished in front of the door. Zidane entered first and I closed the door behind me and approached Steiner. He was lying down apparently asleep while holding on to a small stuffed doll, if I remember correctly, that doll was labeled with princess Garnet's name.

Zidane simply kicked him to wake him up, "Come on. You're too old to be playing with a doll,"

Steiner more or less sat up right away, "silence! A scoundrel like you wouldn't understand! I'm just overwhelmed with concern for the princess! If only you rogues hadn't kidnapped her…" he pointed an accusing finger at the two of us, "this is all your fault! If anything should happen to the princess, I will have your heads!"

Well this wasn't going to sit well with me, "okay, first, I was never apart of the kidnapping or whatever, and second, is that how you treat me after stopping that vine earlier,"

Steiner looked a bit taken aback at my outburst, "y... You're right. My apologies... sorry, I don't even know your name,"

"Heh, the apologies aren't necessary, just as long as you remember in future," I waved off his thanks, "name's Seph, 'sides, we were about to go looking for the princess now, anyway,"

"Yeah, I'll even let you come along with us if you promise to be good," I'm glad Zidane still wanted to take him with us, "what do you say, Rusty?"

I covered my ears, preparing myself for Steiner's little outburst, "R-R-RUSTY!!!?" a good idea in my opinion, "I am Adelbert Steiner, Captain of the Knights of Pluto, and I will never work with you conniving thieves!"

"Remember, I'm not a thief," if either of them heard me, they didn't show it.

"Captain? I figured you were a private with that cheap rusty armour…" in all honesty though, the armour wasn't as rusty as Zidane made it out to be, I mean a bit of polish wouldn't be amiss, but it seemed fine, "Look, this has nothing to do with Tantalus. It's something we decided to do on our own. We just wanna save Garnet,"

"Hmph... You had better not be lying! Because if you are, I won't hesitate to kill you!" I had already realised how much of a pain Steiner was going to be.

"Yeah, yeah," Zidane just simply waved off Steiner's threats, "We're counting on you, Rusty"

"Make no mistake. I'm only going with you to save the princess! I'll deal with you personally when this is over,"

"...whatever," I realised Zidane was beginning to bore of Steiner's numerous threats.

"Come on then," I started, making for the door, "the princess is out there, and we ain't saving her any faster standing around in here,"

"Wait," Steiner stopped me in my tracks, "it may be difficult with just the three of us. We should seek Master Vivi's help as well,"

"Why are you calling him master?" Zidane questioned, as he turned back towards Steiner.

"You fool. That black mage has unimaginable powers..." I couldn't help but let a small grin appear on my face, remembering the power Vivi acquires as we progress, "I don't want to get him involved, but alas, it can't be helped. We need Master Vivi's help to rescue the princess,"

"Alright, let's go talk to Vivi," Zidane responded as I led us through the ruins of the airship to the room Vivi was currently resting in.

I opened the door and was first to step in, "hey Vivi, we're about to set off looking for the princess,"

"Really? That's great! Be careful, okay?" the worry in Vivi's voice was quite clear.

"Actually, we want you to come with us too," Zidane was right to the point, as usual.

"Huh!? B-But I can hardly do anything,"

"Hardly, Master Vivi. You magic was highly effective against that monster. In all honesty, I hold your power in greater esteem than this scoundrel's,"

"B-But, I'm scared. I couldn't even move last time,"

"Don't worry Vivi, I'll be there to protect you this time," I reassured him, confidant in my abilities.

"Please, Master Vivi. For the sake of Princess Garnet and all of Alexandria, I humbly request your assistance!"

"Come on! You're a black mage, for crying out loud! Show us what you've got!" Zidane tried to cheer Vivi up; it seemed to work, "Alright, let's get going,"

"...Okay. I'll... try my best," it was clear that Vivi was still a little nervous.

"Thank you, Master Vivi,"

Zidane left through the door and I made to follow, however I realised that Steiner was hanging back, "Hey, you coming or what?" I questioned at Steiner.

"Of course, I just want a quick word with Master Vivi,"

"Okay... We'll be waiting outside then," I said before following Zidane out of the room. I watched Zidane walk towards the exit, while I decided to hang back and wait for Vivi. As I stood outside the door, I couldn't hear much of their conversation, mostly mumbling, which I took to be Steiner whispering.

"Magic sword…? Okay I'll give it a try," Vivi finished, about the only thing I could catch. But the magic sword part made me ponder about my abilities, as it seems impractical to drop a sword every time I want to attack… Well that's something to experiment with.

The door swung open as Steiner exited the room followed closely by Vivi. Steiner didn't seem to notice me as he walked past, probably too busy with his thoughts on the magic sword. Vivi noticed me right away, "Seph, y-you waited?"

"Of course, can't protect you if I leave you behind," I answered, Vivi seemed happy enough that I thought of him, "come on, Zidane went this way," I led him through the door and saw Zidane talking with Blank.

"Pshhh… She's not even my type. I came down here to give you this," it was Blank talking and he handed a bottle to Zidane.

"You're always thinking about me…" Zidane had taken the bottle from Blank, "but I won't need a love potion the reel this one in," he finished as I was walking behind him. I couldn't help but hit him on the head, trying to knock some sense into him, "Ow, hey what was that for," he turned to me.

"It's not a love potion, idiot," I couldn't help joking with him, "I'd wager a guess it's to remove the seeds in the Princess when we find her,"

"Cool, that true Blank?" Zidane turned back to his friend.

"Er, yeah actually, it is," He clearly wasn't expecting me to know.

"This'll come in handy," Zidane said, eyeing the bottle, before putting it away, "Thanks Blank. I'll see you when I see you,"

"How about never," Blank responded before heading back into the ship. Zidane then followed after me and Vivi to outside the ship to where Steiner was waiting for us.

Steiner didn't look too impressed that we made him wait, even if it wasn't that long, but he didn't seem to voice his opinion. I was just glad he didn't run off ahead of us, intent on saving Garnet himself or more likely, getting himself killed.

"Anyway," I began, before Steiner actually did manage to start anything, "now that we're all okay, we should probably start where the Princess first disappeared, and work from there," even if I knew the route from the game, letting them know that might make them suspicious of who I am.

"It seems like the most logical starting point," Steiner was quick to agree… which seemed weird, does he trust me? "However, I was… incapacitated when brought back here, you'll have to lead the way," He indicated me, seeming to ignore that Zidane was conscious too, he probably trusts me more than Zidane anyway.

"Well, with that in mind, let's go!" I said, everyone nodded their affirmative and I proceeded to march off deeper into the forest, taking the same route as last time to reach the location of the Prison Cage.

* * * * *

We had arrived at the former location of the Prison Cage; predictably, it was a short walk, however, a couple of Goblins and a few Fangs decided to impede us. The four of us made short work of them and continued on, only a little worse for wear.

"Now what?" Steiner was the first to ask the question, likely very impatient about rescuing the Princess.

"Calm down," I told him, "my best bet is we follow the path of least resistance. It would make sense that the most traveled path would be towards their master, and as a result of travel become easy to traverse," wow, I'm surprised I came up with that on the spot.

"Good thinking, Seph," Zidane quickly took the lead, and began walking along a gravel path, "from that idea, this path seems likely," and ran out of sight.

I looked towards Steiner and then Vivi, finding it strange that Zidane would wander off, alone in this forest, "ah well, we'd best catch up before trouble finds him," Vivi nodded, and the two of us took off after Zidane with Steiner following us.

We caught up with Zidane at a small clearing with a small spring in the middle.

"Wow, you guys took your time," Zidane told us the moment we entered the little clearing, "feel free to rest here, no monsters seem to come,"

"That's odd," I added, "but I suppose a rest is more than welcome," I finished as both me and Vivi sat down. I even took a drink from the spring and felt better for it.

We hadn't been sat down for a minute before Steiner had had enough, "come now, the Princess is in danger, we must make haste," already he was beginning to grate on my nerves.

Me and Zidane pulled ourselves up, and I gave Vivi a hand as well. He gave me his thanks and I made to continue on the only viable route that resembled a path, before turning to Steiner, "piece of advice, try to calm yourself. If you keep rushing like this, you'll end up rushing headlong into trouble even you can't handle, and you won't do much good dead," the dead part got a bit of a reaction as he stiffened up slightly. Seeing that, I decided he got the message and left before he could say anything else.

We left the clearing with me and Zidane confronting and Goblins and Fangs that decided to block our path, Steiner was watching our backs while Vivi blasted anything that needed it with fire. I was glad that the path was so clear, I don't know what we would've done had the path suddenly ended. But as we continued, the enemies suddenly stopped appearing. I grew a bit concerned as this probably shouldn't be happening. We rounded a corner and my concerns were answered in the form of two giant flying pink flower monsters, each with two short vines that ended in bulbs.

"W-What are they?" I heard Vivi ask from behind.

"They look like flowers," Zidane commented, "only they're flying,"

"Dendrobiums," I told them both, only to be met with puzzled stares, "ugh, flower monsters that use wind magic to attack and stay a float,"

"Should've just said that at the start," Zidane said, he had placed both of his daggers in his hands, and Steiner had appeared on my other side, sword in hand. Grinning, I readied myself as well, and we formed a protective wall in front of Vivi.

"Vivi, when you get a chance, blast them with fire. They are only plants, it should hurt them a lot," I whispered behind, not letting my eyes off the targets in front.

"O-Okay," was all I heard before Zidane decided to rush the plants.

He approached them quickly enough, however, a large problem became suddenly apparent, "hey, no fair, their flying," Zidane shouted, indeed, the flowers were hovering just out of our reach, although it was quite comical watching him jump in an attempt to reach them.

"Zidane, LOOK O-" *CRACK*

I tried to warn him, but one of the flowers hit Zidane in the back of the head with it's vine, sending him tumbling forward, landing face first in the dirt. While this happened, the second plant had a slight glow to it and I realised what that meant. The wind around us began to pick up, and I could see several wind currents, coloured green with magic, heading towards us. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, I sheathed my swords and rushed in, arms raised and suffered several cuts along my arm, the wind was moving so fast in places it was like razors. I passed Zidane and grabbed the vine of the plant that hit him earlier.

"Steiner, now!" I shouted back, and I was thankful to see that Steiner had followed my charge. I pulled the vine hard, and brought the flower down to our level.

"Master Vivi!" Steiner shouted back and raised his sword, I thought initially in preparation to strike, but I was wrong. Behind us, Vivi had cast a spell, in response to this, a faint red aura surrounded Steiner's raised sword. I realised my mistake as Steiner brought his sword down on the restrained flower, the whole thing burst into flame from the magic sword. I wasn't quite quick enough and suffered minor burns to my hands.

I looked around to see Zidane had dusted himself off and was ready for more, and I had drawn my right sword, ready to attack, only the other flower was no where to be seen. Running out of hiding places, we were about to figure it had ran away, "A-Above you," I heard Vivi call to us, I instantly looked up to see the other flower and a current of wind heading straight at us.

I wasn't about to take another hit of that to my arms, so thinking quickly, I swung my sword and focused on the impulse, '_time for my own sword magic,_'

_Yes, because now just screams perfect chance for experimentation._

I paid no attention to Alex this time as I saw my hand surrounded with the familiar force of the impulse. As I continued my swing, the force engulfed the whole sword. Before I could register what was happening, it happened again, "Impulse Wave!" I shouted. The force held in the sword was released in a large arc that shot towards the flying flower and the wind magic. The wind magic was dispersed under the force of my attack, while the flower didn't suffer too much damage, it began to plummet like a rock, "the wind it used for flying is messed up," I realised quickly, "get it now," I barely had a chance to finish as Zidane had jumped up a tree and jumped off to intercept the falling flower.

After a flurry of dagger slashes, me and Steiner were showered in what could only be described as confetti. We didn't have to brush ourselves off as the pieces changed back into mist. With both of them dealt with, Vivi quickly walked over to us to see how things were, "Are y-you okay?" he asked, while indicating the cuts and burns on my arms.

"What, this?" I said, looking at my arms, "they're only minor; it'll take more than this to slow me down,"

Zidane had joined us again, after getting down from the tree, "yeah, like a Fang's bite to the arm, at least according to Cinna," he finished with a short laugh and a grin plastered to his face.

I glared in response, but then looked back to my arms, "hmm, point. Remind me to buy something to protect my arms next chance I get. I'm sensing a pattern here," I uncorked one of the potions I snagged from the Goblins we killed earlier and dumped it's contents on my arms and watched as the wounds closed themselves, '_I'll never get used to watching that,_'

"Now that those pests are dealt with, we should continue on before anything else decides to impede us,"

"Good point," I answered Steiner, "it can't be much further now, anyway," I added as an after thought, and we headed off in the same formation as before.

I was right about it not being much further. It was a short walk round a bend and up a hill. And to top it off, the area was devoid of monsters like before. We were at the entrance to what appeared to be a cave, only completely covered in vines. We peeked in and saw Garnet restrained against the far wall, unconscious.

"There she is," Vivi was the first to speak after we looked.

"So this is the master," Zidane pondered, referring to the large plant in the middle of the chamber.

"Princess!!" Steiner was elated to have finally reached her, "you stay out of this! Alexandria would be disgraced if a mere bandit should rescue the princess,"

"You think you can handle him on your own?" Zidane responded with a cocky smile on his face"

Steiner just looked back, lost for words as truth sunk home.

"Hmph, typical," I said, responding to Steiner's silence, "you're all talk. Look, we'll distract while you and Vivi blast it with fire, if that's okay with you Vivi," I looked towards Vivi as I finished.

"I-I'll try," he nodded.

"Let's go get him!" Zidane called, as we entered the cave to confront the monster that had Garnet.

The whole cave was made of vines; the middle of it was raised and was the location of a large creature with a flower making a face with a small mouth in the centre, or at least small in comparison to it's size. It's body consisted of a base rooted to the floor with four large thick vines, two on either side, '_well, I don't think I can just blast them to pieces like last time,_' was the first thought to pop into my head.

The plant looked right at us as we all readied our weapons. Vivi began casting a spell and Steiner's weapon got that faint red aura again. To buy time, me and Zidane split and attacked the vines on either side, me on the left, him on the right. After slashing as hard as I could, and Zidane doing something similar, the large plant didn't even seem to register any pain, instead it hit both of us with the vines we slashed sending us both crashing into the wall, and fell to the floor, it was obvious this wouldn't be as easy as the previous enemies. As if to drive this point home, the flower glowed with magic and blasted both me and Zidane with a thunder spell.

"Argh!" I called out in pain as my body seized up with the electricity coursing through it.

We had however drawn it's attention away from Steiner and Vivi long enough for them to finish, as Steiner charged the right vines and drove his sword into one of them. This showed much more success then mine and Zidane's attempts as the fire aura around his sword allowed him to slice deeply into the vine, burning it as it passed. In addition to this, Vivi had sent a fire spell at the left vines which erupted in flames and they emerged looking much worse for wear with several charred spots covering it. The plant monster screeched in pain from the assault, I was glad that at least someone made an impact. With the opportunity given by Steiner and Vivi, me and Zidane pulled ourselves up as the electricity had gone. With the four of us facing the plant again, it released a burst of pollen at the lot of us.

"Ah, my eyes," seemed to be the general consensus as our vision was taken and replaced with blurry shapes and colours. It took a lot of will power not to tumble to the floor as everything in front of my eyes was spinning and moving, I didn't stay up long however and I was hit with another vine and sent sprawled to the floor, and from the other exclamations of pain and thuds, the others seemed to have hit the floor too. As I struggled to my feet, I realised someone else had joined us.

"Whew, I made it here just in time," from the sounds of the voice, it was Blank that had joined us, and he was cutting it close, as he approached, I felt him put something in my hand, "use that to clear your eyes and then help the others, I'll take care of this,"

I saw his shape move away to attack the plant. I applied the contents of the bottle to my eyes and my vision cleared almost instantly, looking at what he gave me, I had another three bottles of eye drops. I quickly moved along the others while they stumbled to their feet and helped them stand up and apply the drops, all the while, Blank ducked and dived avoiding the two vines, buying me time.

With the last of the drops given to Zidane, we were once again ready to fight and prepared this time for the plants attacks. Me and Zidane attacked the same vines as earlier, taking advantage of the weakening caused by the earlier fire assault, meanwhile Blank hacked away at the... face area, all the time Vivi was casting the fire spells again.

During our attacks, the plant made an attempt at crushing me between two of the vines, while making a swing for both Blank and Zidane with the remaining two. They both jumped back, while I jumped into the air as the vines slammed together. In the moment I was in the air, the plant used the vine swung at Blank and kept the momentum while aiming for me now, "Impulse Burst!" thinking fast, I used the force of my attack to launch myself out of harms way. As I landed, I looked up in time to see Steiner slashing his sword through the plant, burning everything in his swords path, before leaping back and the plant engulfed in flames from Vivi's fire spell. Near death, the plant attempted to catch us all with it's pollen again, "not this time, Impulse Wave," I sent the wave of force straight at the plant, the pollen was scattered in the opposite direction and the force of the blow seemed to be the finisher as plant stopped moving and began to disperse into the mist, like so many enemies before it, leaving a sump in the vines.

With the threat now gone, I put my swords away, before collapsing to my knees and chugging the contents of a potion, I swear I heard a rib break, two slams to the chest really hurts, and who knows what the electricity did. Zidane and Steiner cut the vines that were holding Garnet away and placed her on the ground while Steiner supported her.

"Princess!!! Please get a hold of yourself!" Steiner was worried with concern for the Princess.

"Zidane, give her the stuff," Blank stated, seemingly keeping his eye out for other threats.

Zidane approached Garnet and knelt down beside her. He took out the bottle Blank gave him back at the ship and poured it into Garnet's mouth, and she chocked it down.

"Princess, please try to drink all of it,"

"Is she going to be okay?" Vivi asked while approaching, only he made it a couple of steps before the ground beneath us shook.

"Oh man, what now?" Blank was looking around, trying to ascertain the cause of the mini quake.

The raised area where the former plant boss was collapsed away, leaving a whole through which two new enemies jumped up from. These resembled large green bugs with a red flower around their head. I quickly got up and turned to the way we came, only to see another of those things come from that way. They all approached us, driving us to a corner.

"Sheez! We're surrounded!" Blank was getting ready to fight what he could.

'_Wait, that's not right,_' I turned to look behind us to see a solid wall of vines, '_now I'm fairly sure there was a hole there for running away,_'

"W-What now?" Vivi was starting to get a bit scared at the sudden odds we faced as two more of these creatures entered.

"We run," I said simply

"Where to? They block the only exit," it was Steiner this time, he was holding on the Garnet preventing him from fighting.

"Then we make one," I responded, and turned to face the vine wall, '_well, this seems like the right spot,_' I thought and placed my palm on the wall, "Impulse Blast," I released the energy on the wall, the thin vine were blown away from the force revealing a rather large hole, "come on! Let's move!" I called, before jumping through the new exit. I looked back to see they merely exchanged looks before following my lead.

I managed to aim correctly, as there was a makeshift tunnel in the vines. Running along this, I came up to a sudden drop, not wasting time, I jumped down, using the platforms that jutted from the face of the drop. I looked up to see Zidane helping Vivi down and Steiner carry Garnet. I figured that Blank would hold of the plant bugs up there, I would do the same down here.

I turned back to look forward and come face to face with two of the bugs approaching me, '_oh fun,_' was the only thought that ran through my head as I readied myself, weapons in hand.

Both the bugs sped up, likely predicting my attack, and I followed suit and charged at them. As I reached them, they made a grab at me with what appeared to be pincers on their front. I ducked below this attack and darted between them, and cutting through the legs of one of them, and finished it up as I spun around to face them again, leaving my other blade extended and bringing it through it's head. As it changed to mist, I approached the remaining bug, it unleashed a thunder spell on me, bringing me to my knees. Using this chance, the bug grabbed me and tried to crush me.

"The big guy shocks harder," I told it, as I pulled my right arm free and drove my sword, point first, into it's head. I pulled myself off the ground and walked over to Zidane, and gave them a hand making the last short distance, with us safely on the floor, Blank followed my example of dropping from platform to platform.

Now that that was done, we continued to run out of the forest, I was in the lead and Zidane and Blank were bringing the rear. I saw Zidane and Blank stop for a moment and look at the forest around them before running to catch up. I didn't have to wonder what they were talking about for long as several large vines burst from the thick forest and joined a large army of those plant bugs in chasing us down, '_holy crap,_'

_Er, run faster! I don't want to die with you!_

'_Gee thanks for the concern,_' I thought back as I ran as fast as I could, only for Steiner to overtake me... while carrying Garnet, '_stupid knight training,_' I looked back and saw Vivi beginning to lag behind. I slowed my pace slightly and held my hand out to him, "Vivi, grab on!" I called back, he was too tired to talk, and just grabbed my hand. I pulled him onto my back, and began running at full pace again.

"Thanks... Seph," Vivi gasped, he'd exhausted himself trying to keep up. I noticed that the slow down in my pace had allowed Zidane and Blank to nearly catch up.

'_Uh oh, if they're here,_' I snook a glance back, to see the plant bugs were uncomfortably close, '_crap, oh crap, oh crap,_' kept running through my head as I pushed my legs to go faster. I saw Zidane tumble into view, and I half turned to see Blank had been clutched by one of the bugs, the army of them was petrifying as we ran, which was quickly catching up. Zidane pulled himself up and nodded to Blank when he through a rolled up scroll. Zidane broke out into a full on sprint and caught the scroll as it hit the ground and bounced back up, '_here's the fun part,_' I thought as I realised the vines were about to catch up, "Vivi, hold on tight," I told him over my shoulder, I felt his grip tighten.

The vines started raining down into our path, it took a lot of dexterity to dodge left and right avoiding them as best as possible, the vines were more or less petrifying as we passed. I saw a break in the trees where Steiner had run through earlier and angled my run that way. I dodged more of the vines, only managing a graze or so and I burst from the trees.

Panting for breath, I let Vivi down and lent on my arm as I regained my breath, '_man, how could Steiner run like that with all that armour and carrying Garnet,_' I thought. It only took a couple of seconds for Zidane to burst from the trees alone, clutching the scroll, and vines crossed the gap and quickly petrified, like the rest of the forest.

I quickly pulled my hand up when it felt a bit strange and looked at it, "Gwah!" my hand had petrified, and it was spreading up my left arm. Looking at the ground, I saw I had my hand on one of the tree roots. I watched the stone spread up my arm, when a liquid was dumped on it, the petrifying slowed, and then stopped just short of my elbow. I looked up to see Zidane had dumped the contents of a bottle on my arm.

"It was a soft, it won't cure this petrification," he said while turning his attention back to the vine covered entrance, I'm not sure where or when he got the soft, but I was too shocked at my now stone arm, "just be glad it stopped the spread, or you'd be a lot like this forest now," he started pounding on the petrified vines, "that idiot! Blank..."

The three of us left Zidane alone for a moment and made to set up a fire. I helped as best as I could, turns out that you are greatly limited when you only have use of one hand, I mostly sat to the side and stared at my stone arm while Steiner collected wood, and Vivi started a fire.

Steiner had laid Garnet next to the fire and Zidane had joined us, and began to set up a tent.

"I hope she gets well soon..." Vivi was the first to break the silence, I was still poking at my petrified arm, seeing what I could, or more accurately, couldn't feel.

"This is all his fault!" Steiner nearly yelled, pointing a finger straight at Zidane, "Have you nothing to say, you filth!?"

"Oh..." Garnet had begun to move, finally coming around.

"P-Princess!" Steiner was clearly joyed that she seemed fine.

"...Steiner?" Garnet had sat up and was still looking at Steiner, "...How did I survive...? You brought me here?"

"It is my sworn duty to protect you at any cost,"

"What are you talking about?" Zidane interjected, "it was Vivi's magic, Seph's blades and my daggers that got you out of there princess,"

"I thank you all,"

"That monkey deserves no praise!" Steiner turned toward Zidane to address him directly, "None of this would've happened if you and your band hadn't abducted the princess! And how dare you claim to have rescued her!? When we get back to Alexandria, I will-"

"Steiner..." Garnet cut Steiner's rant a bit short, "I left the castle of my own will,"

"What a coincidence, eh?" Zidane took this chance to rub it in Steiner's face a little, "We went to snatch her, and she wanted to be snatched,"

"Impossible!"

"It's true," Garnet was just ruining this day for Steiner.

"So what do you say, Rusty? Friends?" Zidane made a poor attempt at friendship with Steiner... if it could be called an attempt, "Come on, let's enjoy this camping trip while it lasts,"

"Camping--you imbecile!Surely you must know something about the mist! The vicious monsters it spawns! The abnormalities it stirs in the mind and body! Princess, we must leave this dangerous place at once,"

"You've got to be kidding," Zidane decided to stop Steiner before he did anything stupid... again, "She hasn't even fully recovered yet,"

"Silence! Who asked for your opinion!?"

"Alright, tell me..." Zidane was about to show Steiner how bad an idea this was, "How do you plan to get out of here? We're standing in a valley surrounded by tall cliffs. And last I heard, North Gate and South gate were sealed off," he stopped there for a moment, Steiner just stood there, with nothing to say, "Yeah, that's what I thought,"

"Grrrrr..." Steiner was starting to reach the end of his patience.

"The princess can barely walk right now. You went through this. You should know. I think we should rest here for now,"

"I will never follow your-"

"Steiner!!!" Zidane practically shouted, instantly grabbing Steiner's attention, "State your sworn duty!"

"What else!? To protect Princess Garnet Til Alexandros!" I felt a grin creep onto my face as Zidane had cornered him, "...Very well. Until the princess recovers, I will guard this place with my very life,"

"Sounds good to me," Zidane said, with a grin on his face too, "Seph, Vivi, let's get some rest," I pulled myself to my feet and slunk away to the tent, finally pulling my eyes away from my stone arm. Hopefully a bit of rest will clear my head a bit.

* * *

Holy crap that was long. I was initially tempted to split this into 2 chapters, right around the end of the Prison Cage fights, as that seemed similar in length to my other chapters and seemed like an alright place to stop, but I figured I'd finish the whole Evil Forest section first. In all honesty, that half of the story was written a couple of days after my last update, it's weird coming back and finishing something you started so long ago, I nearly scrapped the whole thing and started over.

Also, the whole petrified arm thing came to me randomly, it actually occurred to me while I was still planning (before I began writing) and I decided to stick with it.

Okay, now to start on the next chapter, hopefully without much of a delay this time.

_Random Thought_: I've realised that I've memorized my story's ID number, which is something I never thought I'd do, especially when I barely use it.

**New Skill**

_Impulse Burst_: Similar to the Impulse Blast, the force is gathered in one of Sepheris' free hands. The force is then released as a projectile which explodes on contact with anything.

_Impulse Wave_: Sepheris gathers the force in one of his blades instead of his hands and releases the force during a wide swing of his blade resulting in an arc of force launched forward. Being made of concentrated force, the arc lacks a cutting point and results in a pressure type attack.


	5. Chapter 5: Ice Cavern

Heh, hey again guys. I'm writing this part only a few hours after my last update. I say this so you can have a guess at how long it took me to write this chapter; actually it's mostly so that I know how long it took. Anyway, I'm definitely back now, and I know what you're all here for, but you know the order, review, disclaimer, story. Let's go.

* * * * *

**The Duelist of Dawn**: Thanks for the welcome back. Glad you liked the chapter, especially as it seems like the wait was worth it, I hope.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, they are property of Square Enix, I do however own my OC Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 5 – Caverns of Ice

It had taken me a couple of hours to even get to a restless sleep, my stone arm was difficult to manage and get comfortable... and stone is very cold, kept waking me up. That was the last I remember, right now I'm in an empty room, I can't see very far, too dark, so I assume it's empty anyway. I can't seem to move at all, which is strange and slightly worrying. I can hear the light tap of footsteps as someone approaches.

"I command you," It was a voice I hadn't heard before, yet I felt like I should remember, "you should be capable of this," it was nagging me now, I could vaguely make out a shadow in the darkness... or a darker spot, "I demand you use the power I gave you," ergh, if I could, I'd be banging my head in frustration, I swear, I knew this guy, "now, SU-"

My vision was suddenly flooded with white light, seeming blinding in contrast to the earlier darkness. I blinked several times, trying to regain one of my senses, "er, you shouldn't have been there," I quickly whirled around to see another figure.

"Well, next time I'll be careful of what I dream then," I was still blinking to restore my sight, the person in front of me was just a vague shape, surely my eyes were broken, "er, Alex? That you?" it was the voice that reminded me... why is it that I remember his name from his voice.

"Hmm, glad you recognised me," he gestured to his body, "it's taking time, but I'll soon have enough power to appear solid here. You though, you're gaining many powers and abilities faster than I predicted,"

"Good, the faster I grow the stronger I become," this was the first bit of good news in a while.

"However, that's not all you are gaining,"

"Let me guess... that wasn't a dream, was it?" I had a hunch on where this was going.

"No, as I said, what's mine will slowly become yours," it seemed like he was stalling, the light around me began to change to darkness, I was waking up, he was trying to get me out of here, to some place he can ignore me.

"Hurry up, I don't have all day... or night, to stay here, if you don't answer now, I'll just give you hell next time I sleep,"

"Very well," the darkness was near complete now, I lost sight of everything, returning back to the tent were I slept, "It was... my memories,"

* * * * *

I sat upright as the last statement echoed through my head... Alex was definitely hiding something. I went to push myself up, but instead tumbled to my side as my left arm didn't work the way I told it too, '_oh right, stone,_' I managed to drag myself out of the tent and pull myself to my feet with the aid of a nearby rock, '_that'll need a bit of getting used to,_' I looked around, Steiner was still stood guard, it looked not long after the sun had risen, the sky still had a red-ish glow to it. I walked over to Steiner to let him know he can catch a bit of sleep before we leave.

As I neared, the sound of snoring became all too apparent. I walked around him to look him in the face, and sure enough he had fallen asleep... while standing up. I decided to let him be for the moment and returned to the camp. I poked at the last embers and added more wood to get the fire going again.

I was sat there for a while, just running through the events of the previous day. I don't know how long it had been, but the red in the sky had cleared, Garnet was the first to wake up.

"Morning, sleep well?" I decided to start the conversation.

"Yes, thank you, and you?"

"Eh, well enough, considering the circumstances," I raised my left arm, showing her what I meant.

"Oh my, how did that happen?" she seemed concerned, and had even knelt down beside me to look at it.

"It's nothing really; I was just careless is all. I'd have been in trouble if Zidane didn't have a soft," that would have been the shortest story ever.

"Well, that's okay then," she got back up and had a quick look around, "speaking of Zidane, you wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

I hadn't seen him get up, he must have gotten up very early, "oh, he's over there, by the forest," I told her, pointing towards the area we used as an exit.

"Thank you, mister..." whoops, completely forgot the introductions.

"Oh, sorry. You can call me Seph," she smiled at me.

"Well, thank you, Seph," she finished, and walked off towards the area Zidane no doubt was.

Vivi was the next to wake up, likely from me and Garnet talking, "morning Vivi," I greeted.

"Oh, hi Seph," he walked over and joined me next to the small fire before looking around a bit, "who were you talking to?"

"The princess, she asked me where Zidane is, so I told her,"

"O-Okay," he nodded, accepting my answer, looking back to me, I saw his gaze shift towards my arm, "so that did happen, does it hurt?"

"Yeah, it happened, unfortunately," I started, "thankfully, it's painless. I can't feel a thing in it any more. It's more of an inconvenience now, anyway," '_and a pain to sleep with,_' I added mentally.

"That's good," he finished and turned back to the fire. I looked back as well, and saw Zidane returning from the forest, along with Garnet.

"Morning guys," he seemed in a good mood considering one of his friends is petrified and the rest are currently unknown.

"Hey," was my simple response, "you must've gotten up early,"

"Heh, couldn't sleep," after my dream, neither could I, "well, now that we're all up, let's get going, before we waste the day,"

"W-Where to?" Vivi was the first to ask the question as he got to his feet.

"Well, from this map Blank gave me, there should be a cavern that leads to above the mist, we'll start there,"

I struggled to my feet again, and made a mental note not to sit on the floor, "seems like as good a place as any," I dusted off my pants as I righted myself, "someone should probably wake him up," I indicated towards the sleeping Steiner.

"No problem," Zidane just smacked him in the side of the head as we walked past.

"What the... Who goes there!?" he was a bit jumpy.

"Come on Steiner, you'll fall behind," I called back to him, '_hmm, I haven't seen many moogles yet, then again, they can't save progress in real life,_' I thought to myself as Steiner jogged up to us, his armour clanking every step of the way.

* * * * *

We walked in mostly silence, keeping our eyes open for anything that may attack. The monsters that dared to approach us were dealt with quickly, so quick, in fact, that Zidane and Steiner had killed them before I even knew... it sucked bringing up the rear. Besides, it was just the standard enemies we had encountered in the forest, Goblins and Fangs, I managed to snag some of the gil they left behind and noticed my bag was getting quite heavy.

The sheer face of the cliff rapidly approached as we reached our destination. A small cave entrance was in front of us at the base of the cliff, spewing forth a cold mist with a layer of ice around it.

"This must be the cavern," Zidane said as we arrived.

"I hope so," I responded coming up from behind.

"U-Um..." Vivi seemed like he wanted to say something but was unsure.

"What's up, Vivi?" Zidane had heard him, even if he was a bit quite.

"Have you ever heard of the Ice Cavern?"

"Sure..." Zidane seemed to catch on, "is this the place?"

"I think so..." Vivi just looked at the cave, "it's supposed to be near Evil Forest,"

"...I've heard of it," Garnet added, joining the conversation, "it's supposed to be a beautiful place, covered in ice,"

"My grandpa told me about this place," Vivi continued, "he said the cavern takes travellers to the top of the mist,"

"Bravo!" and now Steiner joined us, "Master Vivi's grandfather must be quite a scholar! We must thank him upon escaping the mist!"

"My grandpa used to teach me lots of things, but he passed away..." Vivi seemed a bit down at remembering that.

"Oh..." obviously not what Steiner was expecting, "forgive my indiscretion,"

"Don't worry about it," Vivi said, seeming to cheer up a bit.

"Well..." Zidane interrupted, "why don't we go inside?"

At the suggestion, the five of us walk into the cave together. Once we step in, the cold mist washed over all of us, instantly cooling us. I ended up pulling my arms around me in an attempt to stay warm, only the stone seemed to suck away all heat from my body so I ditched that idea.

"Oh...!" Garnet took a couple of steps ahead of us all, looking at the whole cave around us, "what a beautiful place! Seeing the actual cavern is so much better than just reading about it. Oh, how pretty..." she had knelt down next to a blue flower growing through the ice and snow, "I wonder what kind of flower this is,"

Steiner quickly ran up along side Garnet, "Princess! Please, don't touch anything!"

Zidane had started walking past them, only to turn around again, "Can we get moving? I'm freezin' here,"

"Yeah," I said, joining him, "I swear, out of all the shirts, why did Blank give me a sleeveless one if he knew we were going to come this way?"

"He probably thought it would be funny," Zidane answered as we were walking, "it kinda is when you think about it,"

"Yeah, sure, I'll laugh when I stop freezing over," I told him, the cold sort of got rid of my mood for jokes, especially at my expense. Even more so when the joker wasn't even here to see it, making it pointless.

We walked across what appeared to be raised ice bridges, peering over the side only showed a vast drop into darkness. The place was made up of large caverns separated by narrow passages. We entered in the first of these caverns and had just entered the second; this cavern was the first with the ice walkways. At a couple of points along the path, a current of wind swept across carrying mist with it.

We took the branch off to the right, around the room. Zidane, the one at the front, stepped into the stream of mist that flowed with the wind, thinking nothing of it. He didn't make it far as the path was quickly blocked as two creatures jumped up to the path. They were large blue-ish creatures on two legs, large red eyes and long tusks at either side of their mouths, two Wyerds.

We readied ourselves, me, Zidane and Steiner in front, with the spell casters behind. I reached round to grab my sword, and as I removed the right one, I heard a clank at my left, '_dammit, only one sword,_' I thought as the realisation hit me. I dropped to my usual fighting stance, using my petrified arm to block.

One of the wyerds charged Steiner, while the other began to glow, casting a spell. Steiner met the charge with his sword, but the ice floor made it hard to keep a footing, stopping the charge with his feet at the edge of a drop. Zidane leapt up onto the back of the wyerd that charged while I rushed towards the one casting a spell.

On its back Zidane drove his daggers into the wyerd, it let out a roar of pain and stepped back from Steiner while it tried to shake Zidane off. The other wyerd unleashed a bolt of blue magic strait at me; I blocked it with my petrified arm. The moment the blue bolt touched, the stone froze solid, the result of a blizzard spell, and sent a large chill through the rest of my arm. Zidane was still holding on, using his daggers as grip, Steiner stepped up, sword raised, familiar red aura around it. Thinking fast, Zidane jumped to the floor as Steiner struck, unleashing a torrent of fire as he cleaved, killing the beast.

I, on the other hand, had reached the remaining wyerd and darted to my left, around it, trying to slash as I passed; only it turned to follow me, blocking my sword with its tusk. As I turned to face it again, it chose to ram me, I blocked as well as I could with a stone arm, but it wasn't enough as I was launched onto my back, dropping my sword in the process. It began casting another spell as I struggled to pull myself up; the ice was making this near impossible. I took a quick glance behind me and made up my mind. I extended my one good hand and blasted the thing, "Impulse Burst," the shock wave cannoned into the wyerd while the force of the attack rocketed me backward, slamming into the wall, '_I'm glad I checked,_' I groaned as I sat there. The wyerd was sent back to meet the sword and daggers of Steiner and Zidane and finished at the blast of a fire spell.

With the immediate danger gone, everyone put their weapons away and Zidane offered me a hand in getting up.

"Thanks," I said, taking the offer.

"No problem," he responded, pulling my to my feet, "I wouldn't recommend using those impulse thingies while we're here. You might not be so lucky next time,"

"Lucky? My back is killing me," I was trying to stand up straight; apparently my back had a disagreement with the wall.

"Cure," I was bathed in a warm light as the pain faded away. Garnet had used her white magic to heal my injuries.

I stood up straight now, no longer any pain, "thank you," Garnet just smiled in response, just happy to help. I looked to my left arm, still in a block of ice, "er, Vivi? Little help?"

"Okay," he nodded and unleashed a fire spell on my arm. The fire melted away all the ice and part of the wall behind me.

"Wow, hot," I said, trying not to burn myself on the flames. I noticed the wall next to me had melted and a chest was sitting there, "hey look, free stuff," I opened the chest to find a strange bottle, with a different design than the potions.

"That's an ether," Garnet answered for me, likely a result of my puzzled stares, "it restores the energy used in casting magic,"

"Hey, there could be more chests frozen like this," Zidane stated, before I had a chance to mention it, "we should keep an eye out for anything else,"

"Right," I nodded, knowing where the others were, with that, we continued walking deeper into the cavern, "er, let's try and avoid the jets of mist, those things were more than enough," I remembered the two wyerds and how useless I was in that fight.

"Good idea," Zidane agreed, continuing on. I followed behind him after retrieving my sword and putting it away.

I jogged to catch up with them. When I entered the next room, Zidane had opened another chest and looked like he took out a potion. He got back up and turned to leave, before I interjected, "what about the one down there?" I pointed to show what I meant.

"Oh, I didn't even see that one," he looked at the bridge a minute, "hey, Vivi, you think you can use your fire to melt the end of the bridge?"

Vivi just nodded before blasting the end of the bridge with fire. With nothing to support that end, the bridge collapsed making a ramp to the extra chest. Zidane stepped down to claim whatever was in the chest. He opened it and pulled out a new dagger. He held it in his hand and tested the edge and balance, seeming happy with it, he clipped it to his belt and replaced his original one, "this'll come in handy," he stated, while climbing back up, "come on, with that little detour done, we can carry on,"

We dodged the mist streams and entered the next cavern. Immediately, we see a single chest sat across the room, and Zidane made a beeline for it, avoiding the mist again. We walked over and found he had another strange potion in his hand.

"That is an elixir," again, Garnet answered the question for us, "it restores the body like a potion and magic power like an ether,"

"How do you know all this?" I asked, starting to wonder a bit.

"While living at the castle, I read a lot of books. These are just a few of the items I've come to know,"

"Fair enough," I responded, it made sense, "oh, I also saw another chest over there," I pointed across the room, "the path to it looks blocked by some ice,"

"Well, let's have a look," Zidane said, sounding eager, "you can melt the ice again, right Vivi?"

Vivi nodded while we walked over to where I pointed out the path entrance to be. We stepped back while Vivi melted the wall, and sure enough, there was a path behind it. With the path now clear, Zidane stepped through while I followed behind with everyone else. As soon as we got around far enough, we could see the chest ahead on the path, blocked by 3 monsters. Two of them looked like yellow jelly with blue eyes and a jagged mouth, Flans, while the other was a small humanoid with blue skin, it was covered with warm clothes that look made from fur and carried a small dagger in one hand and a potion bottle in the other, a Cave Imp.

Getting into the routine now, Vivi and Garnet took to the back while the three of us, me, Zidane and Steiner stood in front as a wall. Already Steiner's sword had the faint red aura around it, Vivi was definitely getting better at that. Immediately, Steiner attacked one of the flans, skewering his sword through it, the flan just seemed to melt into a puddle from the heat of the blade, he jumped back in time to avoid the contents of the potion the imp through at him. The remaining flan attacked with a bolt of blue magic at Zidane, he simply side stepped it and ran at the flan, as the magic bolt formed a lump of ice on the wall it hit behind us. With Zidane charging the flan, I followed suit, aiming for the imp, determined not to be useless this time too. It saw me coming and decided to throw more of that potion, this time at me. I mimicked Zidane and side stepped the threat to reach the imp, a loud clank sounded behind me, but I was too distracted. Zidane had diced the flan while Vivi melted it with a fire spell like the last one, making short work of it. I had locked my blade with the dagger of the imp and was pushing it back, towards the edge. The imp realised the danger it was in and reached for another bottle to throw at me, only it was gone.

"You seem to like throwing these bottles, huh?" I heard Zidane ask, he had come up from behind, and in his hand was the bottle the imp was looking for. He must of stole it when we were distracted, "let's see how you like it, Seph move!" he through the potions contents at us, I shoved the imp of balance and dived out of the way. The imp was teetering on the edge when the potion hit, and he just collapsed and fell down the pit.

"What the hell was that? Are you trying to kill me?" if I was any slower, I would've joined that imp in the pit.

"Eh, I've seen you move, I knew you'd dodge it,"

"Grrr, fine," I wasn't about to forget this any time soon, "so what the hell was in that potion anyway,"

"A sleeping potion according to Rusty over there," he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. Steiner was snoring away on the ground while Garnet and Vivi tried to wake him up, "it was great, he followed behind you to help and when you dodged the potion, it hit him instead," he laughed as he clapped me on the shoulder, walking past to check the chest.

'_Well, that explains the clank noise,_' I thought as I walked over to help them wake him up. Both Garnet and Vivi were near shouting to wake him up, with little success. I knelt beside him and thumped his helmet with my petrified arm resulting in an incredible loud clank noise, right next to his head.

"Argh!" Steiner sat bolt upright from the sudden loud noise. It took him a couple of seconds to notice what had happened before he jumped to his feet, "princess, I apologise for falling asleep, when I should have been protecting you,"

"You needn't worry Steiner, both Zidane and Seph were more than able to finish of the monsters," she told him with a smile. Steiner just scowled in Zidane's direction, he was either alright with me, or saw me as the lesser of two evils.

Zidane was coming back, waving something in his hand, "hey, it's a leather wrist, any takers? Seph, what about you? You said you wanted to get arm protection,"

"Normally I'd agree," I looked at my stone arm, "but I'll be alright for now. What about Vivi, he was the one melting all the ice,"

"Good idea, here, Vivi catch," Zidane through the leather wrist toward Vivi, who clumsily caught it. He looked at it a moment before putting it on his wrist.

"T-Thanks," he said while looking at me.

"Hey, no problem," I smiled back at him, "come on then," I started back up the path, "this place ain't getting any warmer,"

In agreement, everyone followed me back up the pathway and into the next cavern. Well, cavern may be a bit of a stretch, it was a small cave that just continued on to what appeared to be outside, a freezing wind was blowing back into the cave, chilling everyone to the bone. Without stopping I trudged out into the blizzard, and instantly regretted my decision. If the cave was freezing, this was sub zero, '_when I next see Blank, I'll kill him for this,_' I thought.

"Vivi, hurry up, or you'll be left behind," it was Zidane calling back, and looking over my shoulder, Vivi was sure enough, bringing up the rear, walking slowly.

"I... I'm coming," Vivi was struggling to walk, the cold was clearly affecting him, and he couldn't even walk straight, walking towards a drop instead. Predicting the next events, I jumped down the small drop onto the lower ledge and dashed under Vivi.

"Oh no!" Garnet called as I saw Vivi tumble over the edge above me, and I caught him with my arms, the stone probably didn't make the landing any better.

"Master Vivi! Are you okay?" I saw Steiner approach the edge to check on him.

"He's fine. It looks like he fell asleep though," I responded looking up towards Steiner. I saw him falling now too, and jumped to the side to avoid him landing on me and Vivi.

"Yo, Rusty? You're... not alright, are you?" Zidane had jumped down too to check on us, "what's happening to you guys," he added walking to Steiner's side, "hey Rusty! Move it or lose it! Get up!" he shouted while kicking him in the side.

"Try the head, that's how I woke him up earlier," I told him, and he promptly complied by kicking his helmet. I looked up to see Garnet collapse as well, "Zidane, Garnet," he understood immediately and jumped up to her. I lay Vivi down and climbed up as well.

"Oh no! Garnet! Not you, too?" he was gently shaking her, trying to wake her up, "she's ou-" I missed the rest as I collapsed in the snow too.

* * * * *

*Jingle* *Jingle*

I slowly opened my eyes when I heard the faint sounds of a bell. I pulled myself up to see that Zidane had come to his senses.

"What's that sound..." he mumbled, getting to his feet.

"It came from this way," I told him, he looked up, not realising that I was awake also.

"Let's go check then," he said as he stumbled past me, "is somebody there?"

I followed behind him, trying to get myself warm. We walking in to a large clearing, a path wound its way along the back wall to the top. A waterfall was frozen in place, falling down the middle of the path into a frozen lake.

"Why didn't you fall asleep?" a voice called out. Me and Zidane looked up to see another black mage like Vivi, this one had a pointed hat, a small bell in it's hand and two dark blue wings spread from it's back, "you should be dead by now..."

"Are you the one causing this blizzard?" Zidane demanded, drawing his daggers in preparation to fight, I followed suit and readied my weapon.

"Hee-hee-hee... That's right!" He was laughing like this was some cruel joke.

"Tell me, who are you and why you're here," I shouted at him, demanding answers.

"I am Black Waltz No. 1," he began jumping down to join us, "as for why I'm here, I guess you'll just have to find out," he was just toying with us. He quickly begins casting magic using his bell, "ice giant, Sealion... Come before me!" as he finished a great pillar of ice erupted from the ground. A huge creature was formed in the ice, and quickly broke free of the remains. The creature towered over us, it stood on a long tail that dragged behind it and had two giant fins as arms, a single blue crystal sat in the middle of it's chest, "go, Sealion!" shouted the Black Waltz.

And go it did, it charged us quickly, far quicker than anything that size should, both me and Zidane dodged in opposite directions. It partially turned and swung one of its fins straight at me; I jumped back and was showered in snow and ice when the fin hit the ground. Zidane ran past it, making a bee line for the Black Waltz, he nearly got there when the sealion smashed its tail into Zidane sending him back. I pulled myself from the snow and ice while Zidane pulled himself to his feet and chugged a potion, that hit must have done more damage than I thought. I quickly darted over to join him, as I had hopefully come up with an idea.

"Zidane, you think you can take care of that Black Waltz if given the chance?"

"Probably, yeah," he nodded, "but what about the giant sealion?"

"Don't worry, I'll deal with it," I promised, giving him a grin.

"Well, if you say so," and he charged toward the Black Waltz again, this time I was alongside him.

As soon as we started passing the sealion, it turned and swung its fins at us. I skidded to a halt on the snow and attacked, "Impulse Burst!" I launched the attack at the crystal, knocking the sealion out of range of Zidane, the snow provided better footing than the ice in the cave, but I still slid back a couple of feet.

With me now between the sealion and Zidane, I just had to keep it this way, '_fun,_' I thought. Following up from my previous attack, I launched a vertical Impulse Wave straight at the sealion. As the attack neared I dashed forward and launched myself towards the crystal in it's chest. The wave crashed into the sealion, only it didn't stun it as badly as I thought it would as the sealion knocked me out of the air. I managed to get to my feet in time to see it attacking with its fin again, I reflexively raised my arm to block the attack, fortunately, it was my petrified arm and the stone was strong enough to block the attack, '_this stone can suffer more of a battering than I thought,_' then I saw the faint glow of magic. I looked towards the sealion and saw that it was casting a spell, then I noticed something else, the earlier blue crystal had changed yellow. I tried to react quickly, but I wasn't quick enough, a large blast of blue magic washed over me and I was froze solid.

'_Dammit, blizzara. I can't do anything. Crap... Zidane, look out... no, I said I'd stop it and I will,_' as I finalised my thoughts, I felt a power wash through my whole body accompanied by a bright white light.

* * * * *

Zidane's Point of View

* * * * *

I just heard Seph attack the sealion, if he can stop that, I can deal with this guy. I readied my daggers to strike, but dived out of the was of a blizzard spell.

"Ke-heh-heh, you think you should beat me?" the Black Waltz didn't seem like it wanted to fight. I didn't drop my guard, I merely kept my eyes on him, watching for any sudden movements.

"Hmph, of course, as long as Seph can beat that big thing, you should be a cake walk,"

"That's the thing, you think he can even stand up to my Sealion, let alone beat it! You are a naïve fool," something was up, this guy seemed way too confidant.

"If Seph said he could do it, then I have no reason to doubt him," what was I worried about, Seph could handle himself.

"Ke-heh-heh, that's the thing, as long as I stand, that Sealion is immortal," crap, he was buying time, but even more worrying was the wave of cold air that blasted from behind, "uh-oh, don't look now, but it appears that your little friend is finished,"

I turned around to see the sealion stood in front of a group of icicles, in the centre of which, I could make out Seph, '_if Seph is there, then this battle has swung in their favour,_' I thought, as I prepared for the inevitable attack from the sealion, '_like hell I'll just give up,_' but as the sealion prepared to attack, a bright white light shone from the icicles, no... from Seph.

It only happened for an instant, but once the light vanished, Seph was stood between me and the sealion, a more serious expression on his face than I've seen so far, but that wasn't it. His earlier vest had gained sleeves, at least down to his elbows, and both his shirt and pants were between shades of yellow and white while an aura of light washed over his whole body, and to top this off, his left arm returned to normal, a fact not escaped by him as he clenched his fist several times and removed his second sword, '_now that is called the nick of time, so he can trance too,_' this was the perfect time, but his stance was completely different from before, he seemed more confident, more sure of himself, then I saw it. The sealion was missing one of it's fins, and in response to this, it crashed into the ground just off to the side, it sat there a moment before shimmering and changing into ice and collapsing to the ground.

"Yo, Seph, that's you right?" something about him was definitely different.

"Hmm, not as such no," that answer wasn't what I was expecting and just confused me more, "don't worry, just deal with the Black Waltz, like he said, we got this," Seph definitely wasn't acting himself, but we had bigger problems now.

I turned back to face the Black Waltz, this time I wasn't about to let up. Only, when I turned, I saw a bolt of blue magic sail over my shoulder, "Seph, look out!"

Seph barely glanced back, almost knowing where the magic was. He extended his blade and the bolt hit that, it wasn't even aimed for him, his sword and hand were encased in ice. Instead of the trouble it should have caused, he slammed his second blade into the ice, shattering it and releasing his weapon, "stop him from casting those spells, the ice magic will heal the sealion much the same way it created it," he finished and went back to the sealion.

* * * * *

Seph's (?) Point of View

* * * * *

The ice spell was close, but as long as Zidane kept him busy, the Black Waltz won't pose much of a problem. The sealion looked unsure of what to do, it was clearly waiting for it's master to heal the damage I had caused, "too easy," I dashed in to attack, if this thing wasn't going to do anything, I wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

Seeing my attack coming must of snapped it back to it's senses, and the yellow crystal quickly changed red, '_interesting, however it shows me how weak you are,_' I thought to myself, launching to the air. It raised it's remaining fin into the air, releasing a spell I was unaware it was casting. As the magic left it's body, a huge wave of water formed behind, aiming to get us all. With the impending attack, I wasn't going to reach to attack directly, "fine, I'll sacrifice power for range. Celestial Slash!" I swung my blade sending an arc of holy energy at the sealion. It tried to block the attack with its last fin, but paid dearly as the bottom half of it was severed. I was still airborne when the wave came crashing down upon me. With a tranced body, the damage was minimal, I glanced back to see how Zidane faired, but he had forced the Black Waltz up the raised path, avoiding the attack completely.

I stood up and faced the sealion, this battle had lasted long enough. I jumped to the air once more, only this time, I charged and raised both weapons, "Holy Cross!" I launched a giant cross of holy energy at the sealion, the cross aimed at the crystal. Once more it raised it's fin to block as much of the attack as possible, and lost the remainder of it as the attack struck home, severing the fin and cracking the crystal. With the attack weakening my target, I landed from my jump, forcing my blades into the crystal, shattering it completely, from there, I dropped from the sealion, slashing my blades along its body to slow my descent. Upon landing, the sealion roared in pain then froze in place. It's appearance shimmered and it reverted to ice, the slashes and cracks I inflicted spread throughout it before it broke apart, '_now, it's just up to him,_' I turned back to watch Zidane deal the finishing blow to the Black Waltz.

* * * * *

Zidane's Point of View

* * * * *

I knew I was right to believe in Seph, even if he wasn't himself, that sealion should be a breeze while tranced. I began to approach the Black Waltz, he was backing up, he seemed to know that if Seph was tranced, he was hopeless, "looks like you were wrong," I started, continuing to force him backwards, "Seph even blocked your magic, and as long as that doesn't work, you're sealion isn't so invincible,"

"Don't be so sure, Bli-!" he began to cast blizzard again, so I leapt forward, swinging my dagger for his face. He caught himself in time and stumbled backwards avoiding the blow.

"Hmph, like I'd just let you heal it, don't forget that, as long as I'm here you won't be able to interfere with their fight," then it struck me, "your useless on your own, you only know two spells, one to summon that sealion and the other primarily to heal it, on your own, your weak and useless, ha!"

"Grr, you think that's all I can do? Well take this, Fire!!" he launched a ball of fire at me, I raised my daggers to take the blast.

"Is that the best you got," I lowered my daggers as the smoke from the fire cleared, "you could learn a thing or two from Vivi," his eyes darted to behind me, something had shocked him greatly. I glanced over my shoulder to see a structure of ice collapse, with Seph, I think, stood in front of it, "well hey, look at that, your _invincible _sealion isn't so invincible now is it?"

He glanced at me, anger evident in his eye. He rang his bell, like before, "ice giant, Sea-" I took this chance to finish it. I ran forward and swung my daggers in a cross and came to rest behind him, "h-how...?"

"Simple, I said you wouldn't interfere in that fight, Seph won, and now, so did I, deal with it," the Black Waltz collapsed to the floor, it's robes in tatters, it's bell in pieces, and then it's body dissipated into mist, '_should a black mages body do that?_' I thought, replacing my daggers in my belt. I turned and leapt off the path to join Seph, "you said you weren't really Seph, then who are you?"

The trance began to fade, now that the battle was over. I almost feared that I'd left it too late, "you can call me Alex," and the trance faded in a burst of light, and the old Seph was stood there again, petrified arm and all.

* * * * *

Seph's Point of View

* * * * *

The light cleared from my vision, I was stood in the clearing once again, Zidane looking at me kinda strange. Suddenly, all my memories from my tranced time was brought to the surface of my memory.

"Er, Seph, who's Alex," oh crap, Alex revealed himself and left me to deal with the repercussions.

"Can we just let it drop for now, the others are still in trouble," I turned to return to our friends, but Zidane grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"You're avoiding it, who is Alex," the look in his eyes told me he wasn't going to let this drop. Without sensing an escape, I relented.

"Alex is, or was, a voice in my mind. I lied earlier, in Evil Forest, I don't know how to fight, I got it all from Alex, along with my... unique magic. I just woke up one morning and there he was," I felt like I told him enough, no need to tell him I came from another world.

"So this Alex, in your head, taught you how to fight the way you do?"

"Er, sure, that's probably the easiest way to explain it," he was starting to get into areas I wasn't too sure about, so I decided to try getting out of it again, "now come on, the other are probably wondering where we are,"

"Oh right, he was the reason they slept, what are we waiting for," he strode past me, seemingly forgetting about the whole Alex thing

"You defeated No. 1," a voice echoed around the chamber, "but No. 2 and No. 3 will reclaim the princess,"

"Who's there!?" Zidane stopped mid step and surveyed the room, looking for the source.

"Looks like whoever it was has run away," I told him, turning back to leave, "now come on, I'm sure they've waited long enough.

Zidane took another glance around the room, "I guess you're right," and he joined me in leaving.

We rejoined the others as they were getting to their feet.

"Zidane, Seph!" Garnet was the first to notice we had just returned.

"Hey," Zidane responded, "you all okay?"

"You!" Steiner confronted the pair of us immediately, "What just happened,"

"Calm down Steiner, it was nothing," I tried to defuse the situation, before anyone grew concerned.

"He's right Rusty," Zidane backed me up in this, in his own way, "nothing happened,"

"You're both hiding something," he just wasn't letting up.

"Steiner, they said nothing happened," fortunately, Garnet got him to cool off, I wasn't sure what to say to him, "why are you being so rude?"

Steiner just looked defeated before turning back to Garnet, "...My apologies, Princess," he finished with a short bow.

"Well, I'm glad everyone is safe," Garnet echoed my thoughts, "shall we move on?" then she caught sight of Zidane, "Zidane? Is something bothering you?"

"Hmm? Oh, no... it's nothing," he waved off her concerns, "well, let go then, the exit is just up ahead,"

We turned to leave, me and Zidane leading the group, those words we heard at the end repeating in our minds, alerting us to the danger yet to come, but a glance from Zidane told me he had other concerns on his mind too.

* * *

Whew, that was finished quicker than I thought. I guess I'm getting back into it again, which is good news for you readers.

Anyway, Seph tranced, woo! I've been looking forward to this for a while now, and I'm glad to have finally reached it.

If you read my opening, you'll have guessed that I didn't think I'd be done anywhere near this quick, but don't get used to it. I'm going to start work on the third chapter, while I'm on a roll.

Couple of extra notes, I've re-read my earlier chapters and corrected a few spelling and grammar errors that I missed, including this chapter.

Also, could you let me know what you think about the change in point of view, as the next chapter will likely need to do this a lot as a result of everyone splitting up.

Oh, and I don't know if you looked, but I finally got around to updating Seph's section in my profile.

**New Skills**

_Celestial Slash_: An improved version of his Impulse Wave. The wave is improved and boosted transforming it into a holy blade.

_Holy Cross_: A double version of the _Celestial Slash_ launched from both blades at once. Use of this attack leaves the user open to attacks but if it hits, the damage is huge.


	6. Chapter 6: Village of Dali

Well, here's an update to show I'm still here and still writing. I tried to catch up with a lot of the stories I missed and… well… I kinda lost track of what I was doing, heh. My apologies on that part, I'll try not to let it happen again. I'm still going to read, I'll just work out someway that I CAN'T forget about this, what actually reminded me was an email informing me of a new reader adding this as one of their favourite stories, so thanks to **pan94** for that

Anyway, let's move onto the reviews and story, since that's what you're here for.

* * * * *

**Hiiro Mizutani**: I PM'd you already, but again, welcome back. I'm glad you enjoyed the fight against the Black Waltz and Sealion, I just hope I can make the rest of the story as good or even better (here's hoping for better ^_^)

**The Duelist of Dawn**: I responded via PM, so I suppose there isn't much more I can add other than glad you liked the story.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, they are property of Square Enix, I do however own my OC Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 6 – Village of Dali

* * * * *

Seph's Point of View – Outside the Ice Caverns

* * * * *

The five of us had climbed the slope in the Ice Caverns that led to the exit. Much of the ice had thawed and the waterfall was flowing again, evident that the Black Waltz was responsible. Upon exiting the caverns, the mist had thinned considerably, showing us that we were in fact above the majority of the mist.

"We made it through the mist!" Garnet exclaimed as she reached the top, "Oh, the sun feels great!"

"Look, there's a village," Zidane showed them by pointing towards a small settlement, "I think I've been there before..."

"It sounds like you've been everywhere before Zidane," Garnet commented, "The only other worlds I visited are in books. You may have been to that village. Let's go visit,"

"Wait. Hold it. You're a princess!" Zidane stopped Garnet in her tracks, "you can't go in there. People are looking for you. You need a new identity,"

"Insolent fool! The princess need not sneak around," Steiner seemed adamant to get his own way, "besides, we're heading back to the castle. You leave her alone. And you will refer to her as 'Princess' from now on, you silly peasant!" he finished with a shove to Zidane, causing his dagger to fall loose to the floor, it was Garnet who picked it back up.

"Dammit, Rusty! Why don't you just shut up?" It was Zidane's turn to get in Steiner's face, "who do you think you are? I don't take orders from a stuck up jerk like you!"

"You guys," Vivi tried to break up the building fight, but neither of them paid any attention to him.

"Stop it you two!" fortunately, Garnet made herself heard and the two stopped fighting almost at once, "...Steiner, I do not intend to return to the castle," Steiner looked like he was about to speak up, but she continued, "And I do see Zidane's point. I need a new name... Zidane..." she held up the dagger, "what it this called?"

"That? That's a dagger," he could've stopped there, but he decided to elaborate, "All knives of that length are called daggers. The slightly longer ones Seph uses are short swords, the big swo- mrph," I covered Zidane's mouth with my normal hand to cut his little speech short, which received a small giggle from Garnet.

"Thanks Zidane, I think she gets it now," I told him, before letting him go.

"Thanks, I understand now," she looked back towards the dagger, "so this is called a 'dagger'..."

"Princess! It's a weapon! Please be careful!" Steiner seemed a bit over protective at times, but it was a sharp dagger.

"Okay, I've decided! From now on, my name is Dagger," Garnet/Dagger finished, I was relieved now that I didn't have to worry about calling her Dagger out of habit, "what do you think, Zidane?"

"Great, Dagger. Now let's work on your speech… Try to sound more casual like me,"

"I shall try,"

"No, no, no…" Zidane began to ponder a moment before looking to Vivi, who seemed to look a bit puzzled, "just say… Alrighty,"

"A-Alrighty," Dagger stammered out, seeming a bit uncomfortable to be talking like this.

"There you go," I encouraged, trying to help in anyway I could.

"You're getting the hang of it," Zidane continued the encouragement, "well… Let's go,"

"Yeah, I would like to reach the village before dark," I stated, observing that the sun was close to setting.

"Right," Zidane nodded, before leading the way.

* * * * *

Seph's Point of View – Village Entrance

* * * * *

The walk was uneventful, this high up with so little mist meant that the monster were few and far between, leaving little opportunities for me to increase my gil, but I should have enough for what I want. We entered the village underneath a sign that hung above a path, declaring this to be the Village of Dali.

"Gee whiz, a windmill!" Vivi exclaimed as we entered, seemingly very excited.

"Vivi, the inn is this way," Zidane told him, stopping him from running off.

"Aw, do we have to?" I sometimes forgot that Vivi was still just a little kid when I used to play the game, just from how much he grows, "…but I wanna go see the windmill,"

"I know. But lets get some rest first," Vivi seemed a bit down that the windmill will have to wait, but he accepted this, as Zidane continued, "we also need to decide what to do next,"

"It's okay Vivi," I told him, "I'll show you the windmill tomorrow," I wasn't about to let Vivi out of my sights, regardless of how this would screw up the story.

"Thanks Seph," Vivi responded, entering the door after the others.

"No problem," I followed him through the door into the inn.

The Innkeeper seemed dozing at his desk, "sleeping on the job?" a fact not missed by Zidane. The Innkeeper must have been sleeping lightly as this seemed to have woke him up.

"Oh, I'm sorr…y……" he trailed off as his vision drifted towards Vivi. I stepped in front of Vivi and, as his eyes traveled to my face, my glare seemed to snap him out of his stare.

Zidane followed the guy eyes and figured he was staring at Dagger, "hey, I know she's cute, but it's rude of you to stare,"

"Oh, I-I wasn't staring at the young lady. I was just… The room is over there. Make yourselves at home," the Innkeeper finished, a bit flustered, pointing towards the only other door in the room.

"U-Um, Zidane? Where will I be staying," Dagger seemed to notice that there was only one door in the place too.

"In the same room. Where else?" Zidane responded, completely missing the point that Dagger was trying to make.

"But Zidane… I mustn't…" Dagger seemed a bit unsure of staying in the same room as all of us, likely a result of her royal upbringing.

"I understand how you feel, but these country inns don't have private rooms," Zidane explained to her, while opening the door, "get inside, everyone," he held the door open for the lot of us to get inside, before entering himself and closing the door.

One thing became apparent once we entered, "er, four beds," I said, "five of us,"

Vivi had already made himself comfortable on the bed just right of the door, that pretty much claimed it as his, well I wasn't going to move him anyway. Zidane had walked past me and sat on a bed opposite Dagger, and as I finished, Steiner made claim to the last bed, to the left of the door, leaving me standing.

"Sorry, Seph. Looks like you get the floor," Zidane informed me, grinning a little. I walked to the middle of the room and, realising I was in for an uncomfortable sleep, swiped Zidane's pillow.

"Hey, you find it funny I'm sleeping on the floor, I'm just making you uncomfortable too," I cut him off before he could protest, "'sides, you can just use your arms as a pillow, if I did that I'd get a head ache," I indicated my arm and proceeded to lay on the floor, resting my head on the pillow and trying to get comfy as Zidane, defeated, turned back towards Dagger.

"Tell me one thing before we go to sleep," Zidane asked, "why did you wanna leave the castle, Dagger?"

"If the theatre ship hadn't crashed…" Dagger started, before trailing off.

"It would've arrived at the neighboring regency of Lindblum," Zidane finished for her, "you were going to leave Alexandria!? I see. If you hadn't been caught, you would've reached Lindblum by now. But now… we'll have to cross South Gate by foot. Border crossing, huh?"

"Zidane, please listen," Dagger took this chance to interrupt Zidane, "there is a reason I must leave this kingdom. I cannot tell you why… But… Please…"

"I understand…" Zidane nodded, "I'll get you to Lindblum somehow,"

"I've heard enough," Steiner decided to stop this before it went too far, "Princess, you cannot trust the words of a thief! He may expose you to even more danger, like he did in Evil Forest! I beg of you, Princess. Please return with me to the castle,"

"I know I screwed up in Evil Forest. But there's no doubt in my mind now. I'll protect Dagger with my life!" Zidane said, with a great determination in his voice.

I raised my hand from the floor to get their attention, "I think we'll all help," I told him, "if I hadn't led Vivi onto the stage like I did, Dagger wouldn't have been discovered and the ship wouldn't have been shot down," even if that was how it happened in the game, I still felt partially responsible this time.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Steiner near shouted, "it is I who shall protect the Princess, now and forever!"

"Then tell me," Zidane started, sounding a bit smug as he said it, "how do you intend to take her back to the castle?"

"I-I will think of a way…" he told him, sounding a bit unsure of himself. As he quieted down, we could hear some light snores coming from Vivi's direction, "Master Vivi…"

"He was tired," Zidane noted, "but you had to go on a tirade,"

"What!?" Steiner turned back to Zidane.

"Let's go to sleep," I interrupted, "I think we could all do with a good nights rest,"

The three of them seemed to agree with me and settled down before drifting off to sleep.

* * * * *

I stood once more in the white void that Alex called home. I looked around and saw the figure from before approaching me, but as he neared, his shape became more defined, features that were missing before coming into focus, clothing and hair added where there was none before. By the time he reached me, it was like I was looking into a mirror.

"Er, Alex? Why do you look like me?" I was more confused than I had been before.

"It would seem that when you tranced, our bond grew stronger and the passing of information increased," he begun, "while I controlled your trance, this form was given to me," he waved his arms over his new body, and I noticed it was in fact my trance form.

"That reminds me," the battle with the sealion jumping to my memory, "why are you my trance and, more importantly, why tell Zidane you exist?"

"I controlled your trance, yes, but I am unsure as to why. As for Zidane…I told him merely because he asked," I was glad that's all he managed to ask.

"…Fine… Whatever" I sighed, realising he wasn't going to tell me anymore than he deemed necessary, "Why did you bring me here again?" He usually only brought me here when it suited him.

"Well, since you asked, you have much danger ahead of you, this you should know about," he paused, seemingly waited for my response, so I nodded and he continued, "currently you don't have much experience, not just with fighting, but your skills as well. This is most evident in your use of the Impulse Blast,"

"What do you mean? I charge the energy and release the attack," I told him, losing sight of what this was about.

"Partially right, you need to control the energy; the Impulse Burst is a ranged version of the Impulse Blast. It loses power and that lost power is what allow the attack to move," this made sense, the attack power of my Impulse Blast seemed to far overpower my other attacks, "only, with the way you use it, much of the power of the Impulse Blast is lost, this lost power is what throws you back and causes _you_ harm,"

"So what do you want me to do about it? I've only done what you said," it wasn't my fault he didn't tell me how to properly use my skills.

"You need to focus the force, direct it according to your will. Do this, and you will find that your power will increase and new abilities will be open to you,"

"Focus? Like I have time to do that in combat,"

"Maybe not at first, but with practice, it will become a second nature,"

"Couldn't you just tell me what these new skills are?" I tried to ask, but as I finished, Alex faded from my sights. And to top this off, I could feel myself starting to wake up as my body was engulfed in coldness.

The last thing I heard before waking was the clear voice of Alex echoing out, "But where's the fun in that?"

* * * * *

"Ah… cold!" I sat up with a start; my stone arm was across my chest sucking away all my heat. I looked over to see that I startled Vivi, "oh, sorry Vivi, didn't mean to wake you," I whispered, being careful not to wake anyone else

"It's okay, I was already awake,"

"Already?" it looked like the sun hadn't been up long, "actually, lets go outside, I don't want to wake the others," I told him, pulling myself up to my feet, using his bed frame as support, '_I should've taken a bed, would have made getting up easier,_' with me on my feet, I followed Vivi out of the door and quietly closed it behind me, "so, Vivi, why were you awake so early?"

"W-Well, I wanted to go see the windmill," he probably couldn't wait to get up, "I wanted to go, but I didn't want to wake anyone,"

"Ah, no big deal, I'm up now. Let's go," I led him out of the inn and into the morning sun. Looking at the sky it appeared that the sun had been out a bit longer than I initially thought, making it late morning. After stepping out of the inn, Vivi pretty much dragged me to the windmill by my hand; it was fun just seeing him act like a kid.

"Wow, it's so big!" Vivi was staring up at it, just watching the blades rotate around. We stood just starting at it for several minutes before a noise brought us back down to earth.

*Gurgle*

"W-What was that?" Vivi looked back towards me.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized, "I must be hungry," it had only just occurred to me, '_I've been here two days, now on my third and I've yet to eat,_' the smell from the nearby pub was wafting over, painfully reminding me that I hadn't eaten a bite, "I'm going to grab some breakfast, you coming?"

"Thanks for the offer," Vivi turned back to the windmill, "but I want to watch the windmill a little longer,"

"Well, okay, I'll just be down here," I pointed towards the pub the food smells were coming from, "come and join me when you get hungry enough, the meal's on me," I smiled, I felt nervous leaving him alone, but I figured I'd only be a couple of minutes, tops.

Entering the pub, I saw that I was the only person present, apart from a young girl behind the register, who looked up as I entered, '_hmm, I wonder if Steiner is here yet… I didn't see him, but I did have my back turned,_' I thought as I looked at the menu posted on the wall. One caught my eyes instantly;

'A delicious breakfast for 20 gil!

-Cold water fresh from the well

-Fresh scrambled eggs

-Roast vegetables, fresh from the farm'

'_Hmm, I wonder if they could fit fresh in there anymore,_' I thought sarcastically to myself.

"Greetings sir, can I help you at all?" I looked towards the girl, having pretty much decided on what to get.

"Yeah, I'll have the breakfast, please," and then I thought about it, "oh, and could you possibly pack some provisions for a group of five? We don't plan on staying long, and we haven't got any more food," like hell I was going to let myself get this hungry again.

"Of course sir, the breakfast along with a couple of days provisions for a party of your size, that comes to 150 gil," I dug my hand into the bag and counted out the coins before handing them to the woman, "thank you, if you take a seat I'll bring the food out when it's ready and I'll have the provisions packed for when you finish,"

I thanked her and took a seat, with some time on my hands I decided to count how much gil I had actually collected from the monsters.

* * * * *

3rd Point of View – Back at the Inn

* * * * *

*Beautiful Singing*

_(A/N: What the hell am I supposed to put here? All you hear is "La la la," likely a result of the characters not having voices, and I feel stupid putting that anyway, so... yeah)_

The singing faded away, as Zidane, the lone occupant of the room, slowly wakes up upon hearing it.

"What a..." he begins, still coming around, "beautiful voice... Who's singing...? I've never heard a song like that before... Was that Dagger singing?" he looks around the room for the first time since waking, "Oh, everyone's up already. I wonder where they went?" he says to himself, before jumping out of his bed and stretching, producing and audible crack from his neck, "damn Seph," he mumbled, before leaving the room, casting an eye over the still sleeping Innkeeper, '_how can a guy sleep so much,_' he thought to himself before stepping out into the sun.

He looked up the street, the Inn was at one end, it was the first building on the right once they arrived the previous day. Seeing the windmill dead ahead, he saw Vivi stood in front of it, completely transfixed. Upon seeing him, Zidane walked over to join Vivi and have a talk. Hearing the footsteps, Vivi turned around to see Zidane,

"Zidane!" Vivi exclaimed, happy to see him awake.

"Hey, Vivi," Zidane greeted back, "What's up?"

"N-Nothing," Vivi responded turning back towards the windmill slightly, "I was just thinking,"

"Ah, I see," Zidane nodded, while Vivi looked back at him a bit confused, "You met a girl,"

"No, no! Nothing like that!" Vivi suddenly turned back to face Zidane.

"What? Don't tell me you don't like girls!"

"I never really thought about stuff like... that," Vivi told him, starting to feel a little embarrassed.

"I'm always thinking about girls. I'm popular with ALL the ladies in Lindblum!" Zidane told him, starting to sound like he was bragging, "Come to me if you have any girl trouble, okay?"

"S-Sure. Thanks" Vivi nodded.

"Okay then. We need to decide what to do," Zidane started, "I'm going to look for Dagger, Seph and Rusty. Would you mind heading back to the Inn?"

"Sure, I'll head back," Vivi confirmed, "oh, and Seph said he was hungry, so he might still be eating,"

"Okay, I'll go start with him then," Zidane figured with a location, he'd be the easiest to find, "So, what were you starting at?" he questioned, remembering seeing Vivi when he first approached.

"Nothing," Vivi turned back towards the windmill again, "but I keep hearing a noise like 'kweh'"

"That's the sound chocobos make..." Zidane trailed off, '_but I don't see any chocobos at all,_' he added as an after thought, glancing around, "I'll see you back at the Inn," he finished before heading of in the direction of the smell of food.

"Okay!" Vivi called after him, fixing his attention back on the windmill before he left, "What are chocobos...?" he said to himself.

*Kweh*

"Chocobo!?" Vivi heard the sound again, and had a look around for the source. Unfortunately, he was too distracted to notice the man sneaking up from behind, "Ahhh!" Vivi exclaimed as the man grabbed him and ducked into a nearby building.

* * * * *

3rd Point of View – At the Pub

* * * * *

Seph was sat at a table, getting hungrier as the smell of cooked food intensified. Upon the table was a half full glass of water and a pile of stacked coins that he had just gotten through counting.

'_Two thousand, six hundred and forty seven gil,_' Seph thought to himself, '_I can't remember if that is a lot... I'm fairly certain it was,_' he picked up the coins and placed them back into a pouch strapped to his belt. He looked up from the table at the room, he was the only one currently in there; the girl at the register had gone into the back to cook his food.

Seph leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling and sighed to himself, hunger and boredom getting to him. Footsteps brought him back to sitting up straight, thinking that his food had arrived; only he was greeted by Zidane who had walked in the door.

"Hey Seph," Zidane started, walking over to join him at the table, "Vivi said you were hungry,"

"Yeah, still waiting though," and as though to confirm this, Seph's stomach once again let out a low grumble.

"Heh... sounds it," Zidane chuckled, taking a seat opposite him, "look, I know you tried to avoid this back at the Ice Caverns, and I let it slide... mostly, as our friends could have been in trouble," Zidane had took on a slightly serious note, Seph knew where this was going and started to feel slightly uncomfortable, not seeing a way to get out of it, "now that we're all safe... tell me, who or what is Alex?"

'_Alex, I will get you back for revealing this,_' Seph sent to Alex, hoping he'd hear, before looking Zidane in the eyes, "I truly don't know," Seph's voice seemed sincere, which it should have since it was true, "What I told you is all I know, he's been quite recently, seemingly hiding from this," Seph finished while Zidane just sat there nodding.

"Well... He seems to be on our side," Zidane looked back up at Seph, "Let's just hope it stays that way," Seph nodded in response, the last thing they'd need was an enemy on the inside... literally, "Anyway," Zidane said, shifting the subject, "I told Vivi to head back to the Inn, I'm going to find Dagger and head back there myself," the sound of footsteps made him look back. A young girl was approaching, carrying a plate of food and a satchel, "Well, once your finished up here, head back to the Inn, we'll be waiting,"

Zidane got up from the table and walked towards the door, Seph's attention was firmly fixed on the food, '_wow, he must be real hungry,_' Zidane thought to himself, '_I'm glad I swiped some of the supplies from the airship,_'

Seph realised what Zidane said and saw that he was waiting at the door to make sure that Seph had in fact heard the message, "O-Okay, see you in a bit," Seph stammered out. Zidane just shock his head and left the Inn.

"Here you are sir," the girl placed the plate in front of Seph, it was full of vegetables and scrambled egg, "and this," she indicated the satchel that she was also carrying, "contains the extra food you asked for," she told him, and placed it on the table for him to grab when he was done, "Enjoy your meal," she told him, making a slight bow, and walking back behind the register to wait for anymore customers.

Seph just dug straight into his food, happy for his first full meal since arriving.

* * * * *

Seph's Point of View

* * * * *

'_Ah... that's better,_' I thought to myself, glad I took this chance to eat, '_hmm, I suppose the others are probably waiting for me by now,_' I realised, drinking down the rest of my water. I pulled the satchel towards me, opened it and had a quick look inside. It seemed to consist of bread, cheese, a small amount of cured meat and vegetables while there was a fair bit of room left over for storage. I placed my potions inside and closed it again, before I swung its strap over my left shoulder, resting it at my right side, out of the way of my left sword... that I can't get anyway. I got up from the table, placed a few gil on the table as a tip, force of habit I guess, and left the small pub.

Back outside I started back towards the Inn, taking my time. I passed the windmill and saw Vivi was no longer stood there, '_he'd better be back at the Inn, or so help me,_' I stopped my thought there, trying to calm myself.

I approached the Inn's door, but decided to buy something quickly, and headed into the equipment shop. There was a young woman behind the register and weapons and armour adorned the walls. She looked up at me as I entered, and I just approached the desk she was sat behind.

"Greeting sir, are you looking for anything in particular?" she asked me. She maintained eye contact, but I saw her briefly look at my arm when I first walked in.

'_Well, that's another reason to get a new shirt,_' I thought to myself, "Er yeah, I'm looking for a long sleeved shirt and a pair of gloves," I told her, '_that should hide the petrified arm,_'

"Certainly sir, just a moment," she told me before rooting around underneath the desk, it only took a couple of moments before she placed a selection of items on the desktop, "Here you are sir, just tell me which you'd prefer,"

There were three silk shirts in front of me, not too different than the one Blank gave me, only these all had sleeves and different colours, one deep blue, another crimson and the last was pure white. She had also placed a few pairs of gloves too, a black pair, white pair and dark blue (near black) all made from cloth and a forth pair were worn leather, much like my shoes.

"Hmm, I'll take all the shirts and the leather gloves," I told her. With the new satchel I carried, I had storage room, and I couldn't sew if my life depended on me so the shirts likely won't last long. She nodded and folded the shirts into a pile and placed the leather gloves on top before taking the other gloves back.

"Anything else sir?" she asked me, as she looked back up from putting the gloves away.

"Oh yeah, I want something to protect my forearm," I told her.

"One moment," she told me before ducking back below the desk. She quickly came back up holding something, "here you are sir, is this what you are looking for?" she held it out for me to look at.

It was a Leather Wrist, much like the once Zidane gave to Vivi in the Ice Caverns. A band around the wrist with a strip of hardened leather running back across the forearm with a couple of straps to hold it in place, "Yeah, that's perfect," I told her. She nodded and placed it with the other items.

"Is that everything sir?" I nodded, telling her yes, "okay, then you total is one thousand, five hundred gil,"

(_A/N: Yeah, I actually looked up the prices and made the gloves about 100gil_)

'_Wow, that is a lot,_' I thought, beginning to count out the gil, '_hmm, if I remember correctly, the silk shirts in game were four hundred each... probably shouldn't have took all three then,_' I sighed as I handed my gil over.

"Thank you sir," she smiled and took my money before hand the items over to my. I nodded my thanks and left the small shop.

I put on one leather wrist, on my normal arm... or tried to before I noticed that with a petrified arm, I couldn't attach the straps, "sonova..." I mumbled to myself, before putting the both of them in the satchel I now carried. I pulled off the vest Blank gave me and put that in the satchel as well. I shrugged the blue one on over my chainmail vest and put the other two in the bag. I pulled the gloves on, my left was fairly easy, my fingers were separated meaning it went on without a problem, I ended up using my teeth to pull my right one on fully, I nearly considered using my teeth to put on the leather wrist, but realised it wouldn't work for the straps.

After quickly dressing, I put my swords back into place and the satchel at my side and entered the Inn to join the others.

I entered the side room to find Zidane and Dagger sat opposite one another. They seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation before I interrupted them.

"Hey Seph," Zidane greeted me as I walked in, "Nice shirt," he noticed my change of clothes, "With the gloves, you wouldn't even know you had petrified your arm,"

"Well that was the idea," I told him, "actually, could you give me a hand with this," I sat down on a bed and pulled out a Leather Wrist, "I can't use the straps with one hand,"

"Yeah, sure," he told me. I pushed up my right sleeve and held it out with the leather wrist. Zidane quickly tightened the straps, securing it, and pulled my sleeve back over it, "Done," he told me before glancing back to the door, "wait, wasn't Vivi with you?"

I looked at him puzzled, "erm, actually, I thought Vivi was in here with you?" I told him suddenly reminded, '_although it's more of an: "I was hoping he was here with you",_' I added as an after thought.

"If he's not with you, then where is he?" Zidane asked, it was rhetorical of course, none of us knew the answer, so he continued, "Let's go look for him," before pulling himself to his feet. He left out the door and Dagger followed behind him.

I considered taking my satchel with me, but concluded it would just get in my way. I removed a couple of potions, attaching them to my belt for ease of reach, and left the satchel in the room as I joined Zidane and Dagger outside.

The two of them had waited for me and upon my arrival, Zidane set off down the path through Dali, "Come on, I last saw Vivi over here," he told us, leading us to the windmill.

*Kweh*

"Was that..." I started.

"...A chocobo," Zidane finished, "Vivi said he heard a chocobo here," he told us, we all went silent, hoping to hear better.

Sniff... Sniff...

"Is someone crying...?" Zidane queried, continuing to listen.

'_Vivi..._' I thought to myself, sorry that he was in this situation.

Sniff... Sniff...

"It's coming from the hole..." he indicated a small pipe protruding from the ground, he knelt down to get a better look at it and I joined him to listen in, "Vivi...?" he called down the pipe.

"...Zidane?" it didn't take long for Vivi to respond to us.

"Vivi! Where are you? Are you underground? Can you move?" the sudden barrage of question from Zidane clearly showed his concern.

"They told me to stay here..." Vivi was clearly scared; I wish I hadn't left him alone like I did.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," it was slightly reassuring to hear that... only slightly though.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out. We'll hurry so stay where you are, okay?"

"...Okay," we heard him answer, and I was determined no to let him stay down there a moment longer than necessary.

"What's going on in this village...?" Zidane seemed to say that to himself more than us as the two of us got back up to our feet, "There's gotta be a way into the underground somewhere. Let's look for one,"

"Okay," Dagger nodded in response.

"Actually," I interjected, "I saw someone inside the windmill, he seemed to be leaning on a hatch of some kind set into the floor," it's not like they knew where I went, or more accurately, didn't.

"That seems like a great place to start," Zidane turned and opened the doors into the windmill. We were in front of it, the doors were at our side, no walking necessary.

The three of us entered the room to be greeted by an assortment of gears all turning together, using the wind as power. In the middle of the room, next to a large gear, was a metal domed hatch on the floor with no one guarding it. Zidane simply walked over, twisted the handle on top and pulled the hatch open.

"Looks like you were right Seph," he told me, peering down the hole, "well, we've got a friend to save," and he jumped down, landing with an echoing thud.

Me and Dagger just looked at each other, I waved her forward, "Ladies first," remembering some of the few manners I had.

"Thank you, Seph," she then followed Zidane down the hole, only she climbed the ladders that were there.

Before following, I went to the other side of the large gear and saw a coin, bigger than the gil, about the size of my palm, and a dull silver in colour, '_exactly where it should be_' I told myself, picking up the stellazio coin and looked at it, on one side was the symbol for Aries the Ram from the zodiac, on the back was a small script;

'"The Story of 12 Zodiacs"

The 11 Zodiacs pondered. How best to catch Virgo's heart? Aries headed east.'

It appeared to be the beginning of a small story... if that wasn't obvious. I pocketed the coin and went back to the hole. I peered down and saw that Dagger had reached the bottom and had gotten out of the way. Not wasting anymore time, I took Zidane's approach and jumped down, landing with a thud.

I turned to see Zidane operating a small lift, he used it to lower to another path, I just jumped down to join them, the lower path wasn't too low, he was likely using it for Dagger's sake.

We walked down this lower path a short distance before we came to a small hut which streamed light out onto the pathway.

"This isn't... just a regular storage facility," Zidane questioned looking around. Standing next to the hut was a small fenced off area holding a lone chocobo. Where we stood were a couple of large barrels marked with a symbol, a green circle with a white four pointed star in the shape of a plus, it reminded me of Alex's Holy Cross.

"What's going on?" Dagger also queried.

"I'm... unsure," I idly responded, '_this isn't going to be fun,_'

"(Shhh!)" Zidane quieted us, trying to listen in on a couple of voices inside the hut.

"Why is it moving? Is it true that the mayor's brother found it?" we over heard a voice talking, seemingly male.

"I guess they reconciled. His brother's one of us now," we heard a second voice respond, also male, but sounded somewhat younger.

"...Wasn't he on the old lady's side before?"

"Oh, about abandoning the farm? He probably only said that because he was fighting with the mayor. Who cares? We need more workers anyway. Hey, let's put this in a box,"

"I guess the guys at the castle will take care of it,"

"(The castle?)" Zidane whispered.

"Yup. We're only in charge of production,"

"Gotcha!"

I looked over at Dagger; she was staring at the symbol on the barrels. The shock on her face made it evident that she recognised it, "(The pattern on this barrel...)" she trailed off.

"Come along now," I turned back towards the hut to see two men leave, taking along...

"(Vivi!)" Zidane was the first to voice it.

"Hurry up!" the younger of the pair ordered Vivi.

"That bastard!" Zidane echoed my thoughts.

The rage I felt at that moment started to form as an impulse in my hand, but the force was wild, whipping around us, creating wind. It all stopped in an instant when Dagger placed her hand on mine where the force gathered.

"(Seph! Zidane! Wait!)" she pleaded; I hadn't even noticed what I was doing. I saw that Zidane had a similar idea to me. He hadn't heard Dagger so I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.

"(Geez! Hey!)" he fell back, not expecting me to pull him. I watched as Vivi followed the other two men as we fell back out of earshot.

"What is it?" Zidane asked, pulling himself free of my grip.

"Did you see the large barrel next to the shed?" Dagger asked us, indicating our earlier hiding place, "I've seen this exact same pattern on some of the barrels at the castle. This place must have some kind of connection with Alexandria. So please... I beg of you, don't cause any trouble just yet,"

"...Okay, for now," I tell her, nodding.

"...Alright," Zidane agreed also, "But I will start trouble if Vivi is in danger. Agreed?"

"Sure," Dagger nodded, happy with our responses.

"Alright, let's go," Zidane led the way, "They went further inside,"

We continue on down the hall, past the hut, following the path that the two men took Vivi down. As we round a bend in the hall, the wall open up into another large room and Zidane runs ahead.

"What the heck is that?" He was looking over a large machine that was producing strange egg shaped spheres that were carried away.

Me and Dagger were stood back, next to some strange boxes when we heard it.

Sniff... Sniff...

"Zidane!" I call, grabbing his attention.

"What is it?" He jogged back to us to see what's wrong.

"Someone's crying," Dagger answered for me, pointing at the boxes. Both me and Zidane approach, trying to hear it again.

Sniff... Sniff...

"......Vivi?" Zidane questioned the box.

"Zidane?" sure enough, it was Vivi trapped in the box.

"It IS you! We'll get you out," He reassured Vivi, "Seph, can you get rid of the lid?"

"Er, I can try," I told him, and approached the box. I laid my hand on the lid and started the impulse again, "Vivi, be careful, I'm going to blast the lid off,"

"Okay," He called back, I was nervous, wanting desperately not to hurt him.

_Focus..._

Alex's voice echoed through my head, reminding me about our chat earlier. So I focused, the impulse spread from my hand into the wooden lid, when I figured it was enough, I released it, "Impulse Blast," the force seemed to dissipate, at first I thought I hadn't stored enough, but just as quick, the lid shattered into splinters, Vivi no worse for wear. He practically jumped out the box and hugged me, glad to be free of the small prison.

"What happened?" Zidane started, relief washed over his face as he saw that Vivi was unharmed.

"After you left, some men kidnapped me and brought me here. They told me to stay put, I was so scared..." it showed, he was clearly glad to be reunited with us, "I didn't know what to do. They asked me, 'what were you doing outside?' and then they said, 'the cargo ship isn't even here yet,' I didn't know what they were talking about, so I didn't say anything, and then they said, 'let's put it in today's shipment,'"

"And they put you in that box?" Dagger finished for him.

"...Yeah," he nodded back.

"Well I'm glad you're safe," Zidane pretty much said what we were all thinking, "Listen, Vivi," he knelt down to come face to face with Vivi, "You gotta do something next time. You should try-- screaming back or whatever,"

"Screaming...?" Vivi asked, confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, like... 'Get off me, you scumbag!'" giving him an example, "it surprises your attacker and empowers you,"

"Huh... I see," Vivi nodded, seeming to understand what he meant.

"I want to ask you a favour Vivi," Zidane got his attention again, "We want to check out what's ahead. I know you might not be thrilled with the idea, but..."

"...Zidane, I wanna know more, too," Vivi told him, "Look... What is that thing?" he indicated the machine Zidane was looking at earlier, having only just noticed it for himself.

"There's only one way to find out," I told him, starting for the corridor that continued deeper.

"Alright, we'll all go together," Zidane confirmed, following after me with Dagger and Vivi in tow.

The next room was stacked high with boxes, several were very similar to the one that held Vivi earlier. I was slightly creeped out as those boxes looked eerily similar to coffins. Trying to shake that thought from my mind, we continued into the next room where more of the eggs continued along a conveyer belt and into a machine full of what looked to be mist. The lot of us continued on down another hallway that ran alongside the conveyer. We were nearing the end when Zidane stopped and peered in through one of several windows in the wall showing the conveyer, or at least it would if the view wasn't obscured by mist.

"I can almost see inside... but I can't see anything," he seemed to say, mostly to himself, "I just hear some noise,"

"Really?" I questioned, and joined him in putting my ear against the glass to hear better. Sure enough, there was what sounded like cracking, "it sounds like..."

"...they're hatching," Zidane finished for me.

"Hmm," I pulled myself away from the glass and looked ahead, "looks like we're about to find out the answers to several question," '_and end up with even more questions,_' I thought to myself.

We continued into the room at the end. It was full of large machines; I looked to see the end where the eggs would've been coming out, only...

"Ahhh! What is this?" Vivi was not ready for this shock. Where the eggs would be coming from was, in fact, Black Mages, much like Vivi, only larger, and a lot of them. They were carried, lifeless, on hooks into another machine, while we just watched them go.

"They're... some parts are different, but..." Zidane trailed off, but I knew what he was thinking.

'_They look like Vivi,_' I thought, my attention turning to the mage in question.

"Wh-What is this...? Are they... dolls?"

Zidane's attention was suddenly behind him, "(Footsteps)" he turned back to the three of us, "Vivi! Dagger! Seph!" he tried to get our attention, I was the only one to even turn to him.

"Why...? Is my mother behind this...?" Dagger was shocked at this discovery also, completely oblivious to Zidane.

"This is the only way," Zidane started, "Seph!" he called to me as he grabbed Dagger and ran to hide.

"Ahhh! What are you doing, Zidane!?"

I quickly followed suit, grabbing Vivi, and dashing into the only machine in the room, joining up with Zidane and Dagger.

"Ahhh!...Murf...!!!...!!!" Dagger tried to shout, but Zidane muffled her.

"Sorry! But stay quiet!" He tells her.

As the four of us sit in silence, the sound of footsteps had grown louder before stopping entirely.

"Hey! Did you say something?" a voice said, different from the pair that had Vivi earlier.

"Nope. Not me," a second voice responded, seemingly from the other side of the room.

"Okay. Never mind," The first voice brushed it off, "It's almost time. Hurry it up, will ya?"

"I hear ya!"

As the second voice finished, a box dropped into the machine, trapping Zidane inside.

"Whoa!" the box holding Zidane was carried off and placed into a large barrel.

"Zidane!?" Dagger called after him, hoping for a response.

As we watched him get carried away, another box was dropped, trapping Vivi. As I dived to stop it, a third box dropped around me. It took a couple more seconds before another thud was heard and an audible gasp from Dagger heard. The three of us now trapped, were carried into the barrel to join the already trapped Zidane. We were only sat for a few moments as the barrel suddenly started to shift as they rolled it out. The barrel slowed to an eventual stop as I assumed we reached where we needed to be.

"I wonder what they're going to use them for," A voice said from outside, it sounded like one of the earlier voices, but I couldn't be sure, "We've been making lots of 'em since they set up the factory six months ago,"

"Who cares," another voice responded, "This is a piece of cake compared to farming. Better money too.... Hey, is that scary guy in armour running towards US!?"

'_Scary guy in armour, that's Steiner alright,_' I thought to myself.

"...Let's get out of here," the first voice responded, and I assume they both fled the scene, it was hard to tell... grass dampens foot steps, but I heard a load thud as what I assumed was a hatch closed.

The audible clank of Steiner's armour was easy enough to hear, "This barrel... What could be inside?" yep, definitely Steiner, "What could they be possibly shipping out from this village? What the--"

The barrel suddenly shock, presumably Zidane trying to break free. It knocked me around a bit, but I decided I wanted out too. I focused the Impulse force into my hand and pressed it against the wall of my box.

"Did that barrel just move? Let's see..."

'_Oh crap, he wouldn't..._'

"Hyah!" we heard Steiner shout, stabbing his sword into the box.

Clank

'_That wasn't right,_' I thought, looking down. In the faint light that I had, I could clearly see Steiner's sword resting on my petrified arm, "Impulse Blast!" I released my stored up energy, completely destroying my box and opening a large hole in the side of the barrel, freeing me completely, "Steiner, you just stabbed me in the arm," I turned on him, seeing he was knocked back from the blast. I stepped back into the barrel to help the others out.

"You!!" Steiner shouted back at me as he pulled himself to his feet and approached.

"Oh cool it," I told him, "the Princess is trapped in one of these boxes; you could've hit her with your carelessness,"

"P-Princess!" He rushed in to help me free everyone from the boxes, or more accurately, Dagger. It only took us a couple of moments to remove the remaining boxes and pry their lids off.

"Princess, what in the world is going on? You scoundrel!" Steiner turned on Zidane in an instant, "Is this your doing?"

"Steiner, please!" Dagger ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness," Steiner shut up in an instant.

"Zidane, I don't know what to say to Vivi," Daggers voice was full of concern for Vivi, "I never knew anything suspicious was going on at the castle..."

"We still don't know for sure. Let's stay by Vivi's side," Zidane reassured her, before turning to Steiner, "Yo, Rusty, do you know where this airship is going?"

"......L-Lindblum. Yes, to Lindblum!" Steiner stammered out after a long pause.

"Well, that's convenient! Did you ask someone?"

"Th-The old man at the shack told me! So it must be true!"

"You're acting strange..." Zidane told him, before noticing that I was staring out across the field, "Hey, Seph, what's up?"

"Something's coming," I told him.

It took a couple of seconds for that to sink in when a large Black Mage with wings appeared in front of us, before disappearing and reappearing several more times until it came to a stop and addressed us directly.

"Princess Garnet, the queen is waiting for you at the castle!" Its voice was reminiscent of the first Black Waltz.

"You were all sent by the castle?" Zidane questioned it.

"What? What are you talking about?" Steiner turned on Zidane again.

"You were all unconscious from the blizzard," Zidane explained.

"There was another one causing the blizzard, called himself a Black Waltz," I finished for him.

"You were the pair that defeated No. 1?" He looked to me and Zidane, "I am Black Waltz No. 2! My power, magic and speed make me far superior to No. 1! Resistance is futile. Come, Princess. The Queen awaits!"

"No! I will not return to the castle!" Dagger told it, stepping back behind us.

"Come with me, or you'll regret it," It began to approach us.

"Wait!" Steiner cut it off, barring its path, "I, Steiner, shall escort the princess back to the castle,"

"Kee hee hee," it laughed, "You think I care? I won't let you stand in the way of my mission. Princess, stay where you are while I kill the others," the lot of us readied ourselves, weapons at the ready, "I won't let you get in my way!"

Zidane was the first to react, charging with daggers readied. As he swung, the Black Waltz disappeared like before, only to reappear behind him and blast him with a fire spell. With his back turned, I sent an Impulse Wave straight at him, but once again, he vanished and appeared after the attack and sent a thunder spell this time. I raised my arm to block and the stone reduced the damage inflicted, but I was still stunned. I looked up in time to see Steiner attacking with his sword surrounded by a faint yellow aura. He swung his blade down unleashing a thunder blast as he hit the ground, the Black Waltz stepped back to avoid the attack, but Vivi had already cast a fire spell, predicting that move.

The Black Waltz was consumed by the fire blast. Zidane had gotten back to his feet after a cure spell from Dagger and Steiner had readied himself for another attack. The fire cleared and the Black Waltz looked completely unharmed, a scorch mark on his cloak, but apart from that, nothing, "Kwahahaha! This is how you use fire!" he taunted and raised his hand, sending a fira spell aimed at me and Vivi as neither of us had moved from the start. I was about to dodge, but Vivi hadn't moved, he stood rooted to the spot. I dived back in to block the spell.

_Remember... Focus your energy..._

I gathered more force into my weapon, determined to block the spell. As it neared, I swung my blade in an over head arc. As I did, I released all the energy at once and held it there, "Impulse Barrier!" Once the blade met the earth, there was a wall of force between us and the fira spell. The wall was engulfed in flames far hotter than anything Vivi had used so far, while the spell didn't hit us directly, I still felt the heat. As the spell passed, the force wall had changed; it had trapped a lot of the fire magic within itself. I drew the power back into the blade and readied another attack, "Looks like I have your spell now, Impulse Fira Wave!" I through the power back at him, my normal Impulse Wave was now an arc of fire. The Black Waltz dodged again, disappearing before I could hit, but this time Zidane struck the moment it reappeared, slashing it across its back, causing it to change places again, before staggering forward.

Steiner had rejoined me, Vivi and Dagger and Zidane walked over too, none of us taking our eyes off of the Black Waltz.

"Y-You insolent humans..." Our attacks seemed to have annoyed it more than anything, "Blizzara!"

A familiar bolt of blue magic was heading in our direction, thinking fast I repeated my earlier maneuver, "Impulse Barrier!" the ground around us started to freeze over as my barrier absorded the magic again, "When will you learn? Impulse Blizzara Wave!" the arc created frost on the ground as it travelled towards the Black Waltz, but once more it dodged the attack using it's vanishing act.

"We need to stop it from teleporting," Zidane told us, watching the Black Waltz reappear for the umpteenth time.

"It's not teleporting," I informed him, "It's just travelling too fast for us to follow,"

"We can't do anything either way," Steiner said, seeming to give up hope.

"N-Not entirely," Vivi spoke up, grabbing our attention. I saw that Vivi was looking straight at me, "S-Seph can move really fast too, right? Like on Alexandria's roof tops?"

Now everyone's eyes were on me, "Er, yeah, I suppose," I told them, '_Alex, if you can hear me, now would be a good time to respond,_'

_I'm here, and I heard everything. The skill was passed onto you; I have no control over it anymore. You just have to focus, you can't rely on your eyes, just feel the disturbances in the wind and the life forces around you._

'_Great,_' I added sarcastically, "I can only use it for an instant," I informed them, "And it will exhaust me so if it fails, I'll be useless," I remembered Alex's exhaustion when he used it.

"Right, we'll just provide you with that instant," Zidane said confidently, "just be ready for your chance. Rusty, Vivi, let's buy him some time!"

* * * * *

Third Point of View

* * * * *

Zidane and Steiner both charged the Black Waltz, trying to flank him, while Seph remained back, focusing all his energy on his one chance. The Black Waltz sent a fire spell at Zidane as Steiner stuck from behind with a blue aura surrounding his blade. His slash spread ice along the Black Waltz's wings, but before too much harm could be inflicted, the Black Waltz disappeared again only to shock Steiner with a thunder spell, made worse by his metal armour. Vivi returned the favour with a thunder spell of his own, which was sent back with interest in the form of a Thundara. Dagger used her magic to cast a cure spell on the three of them, and an extra on Vivi to fully restore him.

After the assualt, the Black Waltz charged at Seph, "Kwahahaha, you think I'll just sit and let you attack!" it was determined to stop their trump card. Zidane jumped into it's path using his daggers to block the attack.

"Like we'll let you!" Zidane was buffed up with the power of a protect spell from Dagger making it easier to block the attack, "Guys... Now!"

The Black Waltz was stunned at this, Steiner, his sword enhanced with fire, struck the Black Waltz, imflicting more damage as Vivi blasted it with his own fire spell.

"Kuh, I'll kill you all! Fira!" The Black Waltz was getting annoyed that he was being caught and it blasted Zidane, Steiner and Vivi with the full might of a Fira spell.

The efforts needed to stall him were taking its toll on the party, but it wasn't for naught. A great deal of force was built up around Seph causing a strong wind to blow all around him. He looked up and opened his eyes for a moment, meeting Zidane's stare. Zidane nodded, knowing that he was ready. With little else to do, Zidane pulled himself to his feet and charged the Black Waltz a final time, as he swung his daggers, it all happened in an instant.

"Impulse..." Seph started, his eyes closed again, waiting for the Black Waltz to disappear. The moment it did, he unleashed his ability, "Jet Stream!" the pair of them disappeared, moving too fast for the rest of the party to see.

In the blink of an eye, both of them reappeared, Seph's boots planted firmly in the Black Waltz's face. Seph collapsed to the ground as the Black Waltz was sent flying, straight towards Steiner who reacted near instantly, raising his sword, complete with faint yellow aura, to impale the stunned Black Waltz releasing the full effect of a thunder spell on it. Steiner removed his sword and let the Black Waltz fall to the floor as it gasped, "W-Why...?" before it dispersed into mist like the one before it.

"Wow, Seph sure can move," Zidane praised as he neared Seph's prone form on the floor.

"Black Waltz No.2..." Dagger approached where the enemy had fallen, "Did my mother really send him to capture me...?"

"It can't be," Steiner outright denied, "There is no reason to trust the words of some bandit. He was just some other criminal, scheming to use the princess for some evil deed,"

"Have I not been careful enough?" Dagger questioned, wondering if she somehow gave herself away.

"Your noble upbringing cannot be hidden so easily," Steiner told her.

"That's not true at all!" Zidane jumped up from looking at Seph, "You haven't been watching. Dagger is trying really hard. You're the one with the problem! Walking around yelling 'Princess' everywhere..." Zidane seemed to calm down a bit before continuing, "About the border crossing..."

"Yes?" Dagger asked, prompting him to continue.

"Why don't we hitch a ride on this airship?" Zidane told them, Steiner was stunned for a moment; this was exactly what he wanted.

"Sure, Lindblum should not be terribly far by airship..." Dagger caught herself, and corrected her speech, "I mean... 'Won't be too far'"

"Great," Zidane said, before casting a glance back at Seph, "But let's get some rest at the Inn first. I don't know about you guys, but that last attack completely drained Seph, he's unconscious,"

"B-But..." Vivi started, worried about what might happen again.

"Don't worry Vivi, you'll be safe with me!" Zidane told him, already aware of what Vivi was going to ask. Zidane picked up Seph and carried him on his back, "Come on then guys, we'll leave after resting up,"

Dagger nodded and followed Zidane and Vivi back to the Inn, Steiner stood around for a moment before jogging after Dagger to catch up.

* * *

Well there you have it, next chapter will see the party boarding the ship to Lindblum, but with them, nothing is ever that easy.

Also, I know that the Black Waltz retaliates with the same level spell as Vivi hits him with, this just seemed like a better idea. I know I'd use the strongest form of a spell to show how it's really done.

Seph shows a new skill and one old one that he can use at will... sorta. I'm trying to keep my profile updated too, specifically Seph's section in it. I also added a small part for Alex too, just 'cause.

Anyway, readers review and I'll see you next time.

**New Skills**

_Impulse Barrier_: Releasing the built up force in his blade, Seph uses his focus to hold it in the air creating a wall to repel attacks. If the barrier is strong enough to repel a magic attack, it will absorb some of the magic allowing Seph to send it back as his own.

_Impulse Jet Stream_: Using the explosive power of his force, Seph releases it at key points around his body allowing him to achieve inhuman speeds. The amount of concentration needed to control it and not plow into a wall make it difficult to execute in battle and impossible in one on one situations, not to mention that it completely drains him too.

_Impulse Fira Wave_: The standard Impulse Wave attack is amplified using the power of a Fira spell, changing the normal arc of force into a more deadly arc of roaring flame.

_Impulse Blizzara Wave_: The standard Impulse Wave attack is amplified using the power of a Blizzara spell, changing the normal arc of force into a more deadly arc of shards of ice acting like many serrated blades and spreading frost across the ground.


	7. Chapter 7: Flight to Lindblum

New chapter is here. I really don't have a lot to say in these things without repeating myself from earlier chapters...

I'll just do the usual and move onto the story.

* * * * *

**The Duelist of Dawn:** Thanks, glad you liked the chapter. The impulse jet stream took a bit of working out, specifically, 'how can I use it without it being overpowered?' I just hope I got it right. It took me a couple of goes with the battle too, so much I wanted to add, so much that didn't flow right, in the end, I'm happy with how it turned out. Now, let's see how this one turns out.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, they are property of Square Enix, I do however own my OC Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 7 – Flight to Lindblum

* * * * *

Seph's Point of View

* * * * *

Slowly, I could feel the force gather, completely covering my body and the area around me. I closed my eyes to concentrate, trying to feel everything around me... trying to paint a mental picture. As the power of my force increased, so too did the wind currents around me. I came able to predict the way the wind around me moved, and soon, using this, I came to see objects as they moved through this wind. I started trying to judge who was who, using size and speed, then I sensed it. A large one was charging straight at me, '_The Black Waltz,_' I nearly stopped to face him but another stepped between us. Judging from the speed it was likely Zidane, as he held the Black Waltz, another approached, smaller than the Black Waltz, but bigger than Zidane, '_Steiner,_' I realised as he struck. Now I who was who and where they all were.

I opened my eyes for an instant, it was brief, I nearly lost all my senses, but I saw Zidane dead ahead, and as luck was have it, he saw me looking and he nodded. My chance was now. My eyes closed again, I followed his run straight at the Black Waltz, so I started, "Impulse..." I wouldn't get another chance at this, the pressure was mounting, and I saw the Black Waltz move back, incredibly fast, "Jet Stream!"

All my built up force was released at once as I charged the Black Waltz. At this speed, he was actually slower than me, but I realised a miscalculation. My strength was leaving me at an incredible rate, I was going to collapse before I even reached him, and the distance wasn't even over 20 feet. So I did what I thought was logical, I jumped. In the air, my speed would easily carry me the distance, and with my feet raised, the kick should hit him hard enough. Thankfully, Steiner should be in just the right place for the Black Waltz.

As I neared, feet raised, I felt the Black Waltz turn towards me, and everything disappeared. I couldn't feel anything... couldn't see anything, only my black eyesight, slowly being filled with light.

* * * * *

"Holy crap!" I shot up from my sleep, "A... dream..." I looked around, the room was empty, and I was in Zidane's bed, '_Nice to see I got a bed this time,_' I thought, as I pulled myself up. I was running through what had happened, "No... it wasn't a dream..." I realised, remember our encounter with the Black Waltz, '_...yesterday was it? Hell, I don't know, how long was I asleep for,_'

"Glad to see you up," I looked towards the door to see that Zidane had entered, "I heard you yell, bad dream?"

"You could say that," I told him, "Is the Black Waltz...?"

"Dead," he confirmed, I was relived, "Yeah, Steiner got him after you kicked him in the face," he informed me, as he grinned remembering it, "You were out cold, so we rested up. Some more than others," he looked over at me.

"Sorry, didn't realise that it used that much strength," I admitted.

"Lemme guess, one of Alex's little secrets?" He asked, still not trusting Alex 100%.

"You could say that," I answered, "It tired him when he used it in Alexandria, I just didn't realise how much,"

"Well, you're okay now, we were slightly worried when you didn't wake up after we made you drink an elixir," he told me, "but now, I'll round up the others, shouldn't be too hard, Rusty was watching the airship and Dagger was with Vivi at the windmill,"

"Okay, I'll meet you at the airship then" I told him, before adding, "Oh, and do you really think that airship is going to Lindblum? Steiner was acting suspicious before and it's strange that he wants to help all of a sudden,"

"Don't worry," he waved off my concerns, "you're probably right, but I'll handle it," and that was that. He left me in the room to get ready and meet at the airship.

I was still wearing my blue shirt from yesterday and, while a little worse for wear, it'd do. I grabbed my satchel I dumped here earlier and headed for the door. Stepping into the next room, I saw that the Innkeeper was 'asleep' again, and a horrible idea struck me for revenge.

I stepped into the middle of the room and began to gather an Impulse Burst, but like in the underground facility, I let my rage wash over me. Soon the whole room was in a vortex of wind. Paper, books, stationary, small figurines... all manner of small object were either carried in the wind or strewn about the floor. This soon grabbed the attention of the Innkeeper as he sharply looked up and saw me; he flinched back in an instant as I glared him down.

"You!" I near yelled at him, "I know you did it! I know you're responsible for what happened to my friend!"

"I-I-I..." he stammered out, unable to get a word in edgewise.

"Silence! Consider this your retribution!" I faced my open palm at him, "Impulse Burst!" the unformed sphere shot forward to hit him in the face.

"AAiieee!" he screamed before falling backwards in his chair, unconscious.

"Pft, baby," I turned to leave the Inn, "there was barely enough force there to even be considered a hit," and I left the Inn, feeling a lot better after letting all that out.

* * * * *

I casually strolled towards the airship, hands behind my head while I looked up, watching the clouds float past. As the airship came into view, I tilted my head back towards ground level to see everyone looking towards me.

"Hope I didn't make you wait too long," I said as I came to rest in front of them.

"Nah, we're just glad you're okay," Zidane responded, clapping a hand onto my shoulder.

"Although, we did hear a scream earlier," Dagger told me, "We were concerned about you,"

"Hmm? Oh that," I waved it off, "I just gave the Innkeeper a tip,"

"Must've been one hell of a tip then," Zidane said.

"You could say that..." I trailed off, a grin plastered to my face, "Anyway, I think we've delayed enough, shall we get going?"

"Yeah, but just wait here a second," Zidane turned towards the ship, "I'll just go ask them if we can hitch a ride,"

"I-I shall go ask them," Steiner stammered, stopping Zidane.

"Oh, really..." Zidane cast a sideways glance at me, recalling what I told him earlier, "How come?"

"I-It is not for your benefit," Steiner clearly hadn't thought this through, "I am only doing this for the princess!" he didn't let us respond as he ran towards the airship and proceed to climb the ladder to board.

"Steiner..." Dagger watched him as he left, "He was so adamant about going back to the castle before... An airship full of the barrels like the ones I saw at the castle... Steiner was against going..." It was fun watching her piece together all the information, "Zidane, is this ship really heading for Lindblum?"

"Seph came to the same conclusion," he told her smiling, "It'll probably take us straight to Alexandria,"

"But why...? Didn't you just say we should get on the ship?"

"Yeah, I know. Trust me," something about Zidane made him a very trustable person... and knowing how this'll play out probably helped too.

"...Zidane," Vivi spoke up; he had been quite since I arrived, likely thinking things over.

"What is it Vivi?" Zidane asked, looking towards the little mage.

"Those dolls they were making underground..." Vivi probably couldn't get it out of his head, "Did you think they looked like me?"

"Maybe a little..." he admitted, "But they're just dolls,"

"O-Okay, what about you Seph?" the little mage looked at me. Seeing those eyes made it hard to lie.

"Zidane's right, there was some resemblance," I chose not to lie, "but you're you, Vivi, and that's all that matters to us,"

Vivi nodded, thinking over what we told him. As my attention went back to the airship, the engines on it started up.

"It's moving!" Zidane stated, seeing what I saw, "What the heck is Steiner up to? Alright, we have to get on, Dagger,"

"On a ship that's not going to Lindblum!?" Dagger was still a bit wary about this idea as Zidane took her by the hand towards the ship.

"I don't have time to explain. This way," Zidane told her while me and Vivi ran to keep up.

The ship still hadn't moved, but the propellers were getting faster. Vivi was the first to climb the ladder. I looked back at Zidane and Dagger as I followed after Vivi.

"Hurry up! you have nothing to worry about," I could still hear Zidane trying to get Dagger to board, "Hurry, before she takes off!"

"But..." Dagger was still uncertain.

"I'll take you to Lindblum, I promise,"

"Fine, I'll get on," Dagger told him, finally caving. I pulled myself up at the top to stand on a small balcony with a single door leading inside.

"It's taking off!" Zidane called, making a jump for the ladder as the whole ship lurched, started to lift off.

"Ahhh!" whether on purpose or accidental, likely the former, Zidane had managed to place his hand on Dagger's back-end.

"Oooh, soft," was Zidane's only comment as they climbed up the ladder.

I watched Dali shrink away as we climbed higher into the sky. As Dagger neared the top, I knelt down to give her a hand up.

"Come on, it's not like I did it on purpose," Zidane was telling her.

"Please, enough," Dagger told him, wanting him to drop it, "Thank you Seph," she looked at me as I pulled her to her feet.

"There's that royal tone in your voice again..." Zidane trailed off as he pulled himself up and had a look at us, "Are you okay, Vivi?"

"Feels like I'm going to be sucked into the sky..." Vivi staggered a bit, as if the events at Dali weren't enough, the little guy disliked flying.

"Let's go inside Vivi," Dagger told him, taking his hand and leading him through the door. She turned to address Zidane before she left, "I trust you, Zidane," Zidane took a step to follow before she slammed the door in his face.

"I get the feeling she doesn't quite trust me yet..." he mumbled, "Maybe she'll reward me if I try hard enough,"

"Hmm, doubtful," I dashed his hopes, "at least if you continue to pull things like you did on the ladder,"

Zidane grinned a moment as Dagger rushed back outside.

"Zidane... Seph..."

"What's wrong?" Both me and Zidane blurted out at the same time.

"It's Vivi," That was all she needed to say.

"Vivi?" Zidane queried as the three of us entered the ship.

We appeared to be in the engine room. All around, the machines were operated by...

'_Black Mages..._' I thought, as Vivi was trying, unsuccessfully, to talk to them as they just ignored him and continued about their work, '_oh crap... forgot about this,_'

"U-Um..." Vivi stuttered, still trying to get one of them to respond.

Zidane looked over them, a look of shock on his face, "Wow, they're alive, and they're moving around,"

"The mages built in the village must bring back the new ones," I observed.

"Oh, Vivi..." Dagger trailed off, watching the little mage trying to talk with the others.

"Vivi!" Zidane called, grabbing his attention. Vivi walked towards us, looking upset as he stared at his feet, tears falling to the ground, "Were you able to talk to any of them?"

"No... It's like... they do not even... see me at all..." Vivi answered, trying to choke back the tears "I tried again and... again... but... they will not even turn around..."

"Vivi," Zidane tried to talk to him, but Vivi wouldn't look up, so he turned back to me and Dagger, "I need to go upstairs for a little bit. I gotta turn the ship around before it reaches the castle," he looks back at Vivi for a moment, "Keep an eye on Vivi, okay?"

Both me and Dagger nod so Zidane rushed up a flight of stairs at the opposite end of the room leading up to the deck. I kneel down and place a hand on Vivi's shoulder.

"Vivi..." I tried to get his attention, but the whole ship shuddered as I assume Zidane took control of the wheel, "Sonova," I mumbled, stumbling to the floor. I tried getting up, but in the end, Dagger gave me a hand, pulling me up with my stone arm, "Thanks," I tell her as I return the favour to Vivi, "You two hurt?"

"I'm fine," Dagger informed me.

"Me too," Vivi confirmed, "Hey look!"

Vivi pointed at the Black Mages as they started climbing the stairs, "They haven't responded to anything until now," I pointed out, "I have a feeling Zidane did something to get on their nerves. Come on," I wave them over as I follow the Black Mages up the stairs.

* * * * *

Just as we climbed to the deck and approached the cockpit, another Black Mage with wings and a crescent moon staff descended onto the ship, '_the third Black Waltz,_' I shuddered.

"No..." Vivi mumbled after being knocked back by the lightning of the Black Waltz.

"Vivi, are you okay?" Dagger asked, as the two of us rushed to his side.

"So, No. 2 was defeated by a small child," He eyed Vivi before I stepped into his vision, "Ah, you must be the one that kept up with No. 2... Well you are no match against my power! Kwahahaha! Princess, stay there while I eliminate this pair!"

The Black Waltz began to advance on us, but stopped as his path was barred by the Black Mage crew members as the lot of them formed a wall between us. The three of us took this chance to join up with Zidane and Steiner in the cockpit, well me and Dagger did, we had to drag Vivi back.

"Are you protecting them?" the Black Waltz questioned, unsure of their behaviour, "...Nonsense! you are no different from mindless dolls!"

"Glad you could join us," Zidane greeted as we entered.

"Can it," I told him, "the third Black Waltz is here,"

"What!?" Zidane said, as we all looked out at the gathered Black Mages as they faced the lone Black Waltz.

"What can you do? Get out of my way! You dare to fight a Black Waltz?" The Black Waltz questioned the mages as he began to charge magic in his hands, "I said, get out of my way!"

The sights we saw as he unleashed a powerful thunder spell were terrible. The lightning arced from his hands all over the deck of the ship, ripping through the mages, sending them overboard. The power destroyed the three barrels that made up the cargo of the ship, sending the still sleeping mages towards the ground. Part of the deck were ripped up from the power of the spell and the glass in front of us shattered, showering us with glass. Vivi watched the destruction in painful silence as the mages were killed off.

"Wh-What cruelty," Steiner was the first to break the silence.

"...Ahhhh!" Vivi charged onto the deck to confront the Black Waltz, unable to take anymore.

"Master Vivi, I shall assist you!" Steiner called, chasing after him.

"Vivi! Steiner! Leave some for me!" I shouted, grabbing a few potions and dumping my satchel to the floor before running out onto the deck.

The three of us were staring down the Black Waltz, weapons at the ready, waiting for Zidane to join us.

"Why...?" Vivi was the first to talk, "Why would you do such a thing!? Weren't they your friends!?"

"You fool!" The Black Waltz yelled back, "Do I look like some lowly Black Mage soldier?"

"Even if they weren't your allies," Steiner retorted, "What you did was reprehensible,"

"Kwahahaha! Worry not about them: many more are being produced even now!"

"Grrr, that doesn't matter!" I shouted at him, "They were living beings, what gives you the right to slaughter them all like that!"

"The right!? I am Black Waltz No. 3! I do as I please!"

"What are you?" Zidane joined us, leaving Dagger to steer the ship, with his weapons drawn.

"Ah, the princess's bodyguards have gathered! How very convenient!" The Black Waltz taunted.

"Answer me!" Zidane demanded.

"It wouldn't do you any good if I answered, since you're all going to die! Kwahahaha! I will eliminate all who stand in my way!"

As soon as he finishes, all the emotions trapped inside Vivi break to the surface as he achieves Trance. His usually worn out robe looks new and shines with power, his usually droopy hat was now pointed, like he Black Waltz's. And to top it all off, he had a look of determination and confidence to contemplate the new power that he had.

Without waiting for the Black Waltz to act, Vivi blasted it with a Fire spell. The Black Waltz staggered back from the blast, shielding himself with his staff. He didn't get a chance to retaliate as he was hit by thunder, as Vivi used the ability of his double cast to hit him twice in rapid succession.

"Y-You are not supposed to be this strong," The Black Waltz recovered from the double hit and pointed his staff at Vivi, "Thundara!"

The thunder magic was sent straight at Vivi, "Impulse Barrier!" I dashed in to block the attack, "Argh!" to minimal success. The thunder completely overpowered the shield and shocked me. Thankfully the barrier held and had stored some of the magic, "Impulse Thundara Wave!" I sent the energy back at the Black Waltz.

"That may have worked on No. 2, but this is my magic!" The Black Waltz taunted, and broke my attack with his staff.

While the attack was gone, the Black Waltz staggered back, somehow hurt. It raised it's left hand over it's shoulder, covering it's wound. While it was injured, Zidane dashed in and delivered a twin slash across his chest, he jumped back in time to avoid the Black Waltz's staff, but this is the chance Steiner was looking for as he slashed the Black Waltz across it's back, the wound bursting into flames.

"Gah," The Black Waltz staggered forward. He removed his hand from his injured shoulder and something clanked to the ground. Laying at his feet was the tip of a sword blade that was embedded in his shoulder. I cast my eyes towards my sword, it had broken leaving only a couple of inches of metal exposed after the hilt.

"M-My sword!" I stammered.

_The magic was too powerful to hold, I am sorry I didn't provide a better weapon, but I never thought you'd use your power like this._

I put the remains of me sword away and raised my fists, I was without a weapon, but I wasn't useless. I looked back towards the Black Waltz as it was hit by two fire spells from Vivi. As the smoke cleared, he raised his staff, charged with magic, "Die insects!"

He unleashed a thunderstorm among us, similar to the way he blasted the Black Mages earlier. All of us were sent to the ground. I tried pushing myself up on my right hand, but I was covered by a shadow, I cast my eyes upward to see the Black Waltz towering above me.

"For that little sword trick, you die first!" It raised it's staff, the tip crackling with lightning.

"Impulse..." I raised my hand, forcing magic into it in an attempt to defend, but, '_Wrong hand!_' I realised as the usual impulse force wasn't there. It was my petrified arm, but... it was glowing grey, '_Screw it,_' I thought as I directed the new magic at the Black Waltz, "Break!" the magic shot forward.

The Black Waltz reacted quick, it leapt backwards, using it's staff to block the spell, then cast it to the ground. I looked at it and watched as it changed to stone, '_Wasn't this guy supposed to be immune to it..._' I thought to myself. Then I added it together, casting my eyes towards to my arm, '_it's a stronger petrify than normal,_' I grinned as I charged magic into my petrified arm again, stepping towards the Black Waltz.

I grabbed three potions from my belt and tossed them towards Zidane, Vivi and Steiner, "Guys, heal up, I'll distract him," the three of them drank the contents and I drank one myself, feeling the burning sensation of the thunder fade away. I saw them get to their feet, and I attacked, "Break!" the magic shot forward, but the Black Waltz dodged and a part of the floor turned to stone. But he jumped straight towards Steiner who struck the Black Waltz in the back. As it turned, Vivi used double cast again to hit it with Thunder and Blizzard.

The Black Waltz was heavily beaten, but he pulled himself up and charged another big spell.

"Seph!" It was Zidane, he saw what the Black Waltz was doing and he planned on ending it. He dashed in, delivering a cross slash across it's chest, and I finished it.

"Impulse Blast!" I unleashed all the force at once, this time, all aimed at the target, before jumping out of range of any retaliation.

The Black Waltz staggered back from the blow, before facing us, "You...You scum...! I exist only to kill!" It threatened before using it's wings to lift itself from the deck and retreat. To top this off, Vivi's trance faded in a flash of light as the threat was gone.

"Just how many Black Waltz do we have to fight?" Steiner complained, "This is becoming ridiculous!"

"I think that was the last one," Zidane answered him.

"How do you know!? Are you...!?" Steiner wasn't sure how he knew.

"He said 'Black Waltz,' right?" Zidane tried to explain, "Don't you think No. 3 would be the last one?"

Steiner looked at him confused, still not understanding entirely, "He means that their names are a reference to the dance of the same name, the 'Black Waltz,'" I explained in detail, I saw Zidane look towards South Gate that were were rapidly approaching, "The dance uses three beats, so three Black Waltzes makes sense,"

* * * * *

Third Point of View – A small ship watching the fight

* * * * *

"Did you see that?" A short blue and white jester spoke, Zorn.

"That I did see," Another short jester responded, this time red and white, Thorn.

"Our enhanced Black Mages!" Zorn cried

"Our Black Mage enhancements!" Thorn echoed.

"All defeated!" Zorn complained.

"Betrayed us, Steiner did!" Thorn reasoned, "It's all his fault!"

"Huh?" Zorn mumbled, releasing his grip on the small skiff that they rode, following the cargo ship.

"Unstable, the ship has becomes!" Thorn yelled, grabbing the steering wheel, "Don't let go of the steering wheel!" Thorn berated.

"No. 3 is coming back!" Zorn informed his partner.

"True is it!? Hurray!" Thorn cheered.

"But something is wrong..." Zorn observed, "It's broken!!!"

"Made it's magic too powerful, we did!" Thorn realised.

"There's nothing we can do now!" Zorn told him.

"Depart we shall," Thorn decided.

"We shall depart," as Zorn echoed his sentiment.

"Run away!" They both said as they jumped off as the Black Waltz lands in the now empty skiff.

"I exist only to kill! I exist only to kill! I exist only to kill!" it repeated over and over as it took control of the skiff to give chase to the cargo ship.

* * * * *

Seph's Point of View – Deck of the Cargo Ship

* * * * *

Zidane had just gone back in to help Dagger steer as the gate neared, leaving me, Vivi and Steiner out on the deck. Vivi was stood near the railing, starting at one of the steepled hats that fell off of the Black Mages. I approached the edge to see how far we had travelled, but another sight greeted me instead.

"The Black Waltz!" I shouted, "It's chasing after us!"

Steiner didn't hesitate a minute and ran into the cockpit to inform them of the danger. I ran over to stand by Vivi, as the Black Waltz shot past out ship, knocking the steepled hat loose with the wind, sending it to the earth below. Both me and Vivi followed the Black Waltz as it turned and began casting another thunder spell.

"Fire!" In retaliation, Vivi blasted him, the explosion making the Black Waltz loose control of his skiff and fall behind, but Vivi had exhausted himself as he collapsed.

"Vivi!" I worried as I picked him up to pull him to the safety in the cockpit, but the ship shuddered send the two of us towards the railing. Vivi fell over, but I didn't release my grip on him, "Just hold on!" I looked up to see the Black Waltz approaching again, "Man, this guy just won't quit!"

The two of us had a front row seat as the Black Waltz began charging his magic once we were in range, but he didn't control it too well as one of the lighting arcs struck his engine, setting it alight. It must have seen mine and Vivi's reactions as it turned to see the damage, but it didn't react like it did in game. Instead of panicking, it spread it's wings to fly after us itself.

'_Crap,_' I thought as none of us were in any condition to fight, '_if it's ever going it hit, let that time be now,_' I raised my left hand, magic coursing through it, and aimed at the Black Waltz as it was about to take off, "Break!" I blasted it. Thankfully, the attack struck home, but not completely. One of it's wings petrified, preventing it from fleeing.

Now it acted like it did in game, panicking, gripping the steering wheel to try control the skiff. I fell back onto the deck, pulling Vivi with me, after exhausting myself, '_That uses a lot of power... or I just don't have much since I'm not a mage,_' I thought as we caught sight of the skiff as it exploded along with the Black Waltz, the wreck plummeting to the ground below as the gate closed, us having safely made it across.

Me and Vivi walked back to join the others as we continued to fly towards Lindblum.

"I think we pushed it a little to hard," Zidane observed, turning back to us after looking over the engine, "Why so silent, people? We made it! Come on, cheer up!"

"South Gate was badly damaged..." Dagger was the first to speak, "It was my fault, wasn't it...?"

"Don't worry about it! They'll fix it up in no time! "Zidane tried to reassure her.

"You idiot! The cargo ship was wrecked, we lost all of the cargo and South Gate was destroyed!" Steiner berated him, "I can't believe I played a part in this debacle!"

"Steiner," Dagger interrupted his rant.

"Yes, Princess?" Steiner responded, immediately at attention.

"I didn't mean to get you involved... but you saved us. I thank you," Dagger told him, instantly cooling his anger.

"Such kind words, I am not worthy" Steiner thanked her, on one knee, before standing up again, "Well, now I've made up my mind! I vow to protect you, Princess, until we return to the castle!"

"How do you feel about that, Dagger?" Zidane asked, unable to keep a straight face, "He'll follow you to the end of the world,"

"It's okay Zidane," Dagger responded, before seeing it, "Hey, I can see the main gate of Lindblum!"

"That's Lindblum castle!?" Steiner said, gawking, "How gigantic..."

"The city of Lindblum is inside the castle," Dagger informed him.

"Wow," I responded, seeing the true majesty of Lindblum for the first time... in person.

"Guys..." Vivi spoke up for the first time in a while, grabbing the attention of all of us, "Those... Black Mages and I... Are we... The same...?"

All of us stand in silence for a couple of moments, unsure of how to initially respond. Steiner was the first of us to answer.

"I don't understand, Master Vivi," he started, "Just what seemed to be the problem...?"

"...I don't know," Vivi shook his head, turning to face us for the first time in a while.

"Master Vivi, why would those mages be the same as you?" Steiner questioned him, "And why would it matter if they were...?"

"Steiner's right," I told him, earning a confused glance from the knight "It's like I said earlier, you're you and that will never change,"

"They're right," Zidane nodded, "You're an individual no matter what happens, Vivi,"

"R-Right," Vivi responded, seemingly feeling better.

"Let's check out the deck, Vivi!" Zidane said, making to drag him out.

"W-Why?" Was all Vivi managed to stammer out.

"You've gotta see Lindblum from above! It's the best!" Zidane informed him, "Look, the Falcon's gate is right in front of us!"

I followed them out onto the deck, grabbing my satchel, wishing to see the sights myself.

'_Well,_' I thought to myself, '_I wonder where the story will lead me to from here. After those Black Waltzes, I'm looking forward to sleeping in a comfy bed,_'

* * *

And done. That's another chapter, and next time we get to explore Lindblum and hopefully the Festival of the Hunt (depends on how long it takes to write, I want to fit them both into one, so that is the likely result)

Also, watching through the video of this, seeing the Black Waltz unleash his lightning upon the ship and Black Mages and Vivi's reaction was not my highlight of the day. I'd have given anything to be there in person just to plant my fist in his face.

Anyway, reviewers review!

_Random Question:_ I was thinking about this, but those of you who write stories too, how do you go about the battles? Do you plan them out in advance? Or do you just write it as it happens?

For me, I play out the battle in my head as it happens and write the result. Sure, I reread and reword it at times and add parts here and there, but I don't really plan anything for it

New Skills

_Break:_ Like the black magic spell of the same name. By focusing his magic through his left (petrified) arm, Seph can inflict the petrification on others. As he wasn't built to be a mage, constant use of this spell drains Seph.


	8. Chapter 8: Regency of Lindblum

Hmm, why is it that when I read through other peoples versions of FFIX with a OC or SI I can't help but see part where I think, '_I did that too_...' and begin wondering if others notices it and think I just stole ideas. I swear, the only FFIX story I have read ahead of where I have written to is **Melodies of Life Chronicles** (by The Duelist of Dawn, awesome reviewer and it's an amazing story. Part of the reason I started), and even then, that was several months ago, and I started over as I don't remember. It's just a nagging feeling I have. I update my chapter and then read their equivalent, I can't help but see similarities... in the changes, I know that it's the same story (overall).

Anyway... my little rant thingy aside, I'll just do the usual and move onto the story.

* * * * *

**The Duelist of Dawn:** Well, I'm happy to know that I'm no the only one that just writes the battles when it comes to it. Occasionally there are things that will strike me in advance and I'll make a note of it, but nothing much.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, they are property of Square Enix, I do however own my SI/OC Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 8 – Regency of Lindblum

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Cargo Ship

* * * * *

Slowly, the damaged cargo ship sailed lazily through the sky towards Lindblum's castle. Zidane, Vivi and Seph stood around the deck, watching the large number of airships fly past them and the city below as it crawled past, while Dagger remained at the steering wheel with Steiner watching over her. As the ship neared the castle, a large gate opened in response, granting them access to an airship dock, the ship veered towards it, Dagger all too happy to oblige.

The ship was steered into the dock and the party disembarked.

"Wow! This castle is huge!" Vivi exclaimed, his eyes darting all over, trying to see everything at once, "It's even bigger than Alexandria Castle!"

"Yeah," Zidane nodded, "They don't call it Lindblum Grand Castle for nothing,"

"An indoor airship dock! This is truly amazing..." Steiner trailed off while gazing at the size of it, "Even Her Majesty's Red Rose would easily fit in here,"

"It is a big dock," Seph said idly, not really having a point of reference for comparison.

"...Dagger, you don't look too impressed," Zidane observed, turning his attention towards her, "Have you been here before?"

"Yes, I came here a few times when I was little..." she informed him, "I haven't been here since my father passed away,"

Zidane didn't respond straight away, but the party's attention was soon at the entrance where three guards had gathered. They all wore hoods with mouth guards and armour while carrying a spear. Two of them had a white hood, bronze mouth guard and blue armour whilst the third that led them had red and crimson armour signifying his elite rank.

"Here comes the welcome committee," Zidane observed.

"Joy..." Seph turned to face the approaching guards along with the rest of the group.

"That's a really old airship," the elite guard commented as they neared the party.

"Greetings," Dagger stepped forward and bowed slightly, slipping back into her royal tone of voice, "I am Princess Garnet Til Alexandros. I request an audience with Regent Cid,"

"You must be kidding!" the elite guard stated, signifying the airship, "No member of the royal family, let alone a princess, would ever ride in such a shabby airship!" he informed her and cast his eyes over the rest of the group, "And look at the company you're keeping,"

"You dare accuse the princess of lying!?" Steiner yelled, stepping forward, "The princess was forced to come here under extreme circumstances,"

"Then show me some kind of proof of your royal heritage," the elite guard demanded, sounding a bit smug.

"...Very well," Dagger held out a pendant that hung around her neck for the guard to see.

"This pendant... Is it a Falcon Claw!?" the guard inspected the pendant, "...No, the shape is a bit different..." he commented before turning back to the two other guards, "Call Minister Artania!"

At his command, the two guards saluted before leaving the room. As they left Steiner turned to face Zidane

"If you weren't such a filthy oaf, they wouldn't have a reason to be suspicious of us," he berated.

"Hey, I'm not the idiot with the load voice, and the dirty, rusty armour," Zidane chided him.

Seph idly brought his hands to his ears, "WHAT!!!" trying to muffle out Steiner's yell to minimal success.

"Oh calm down," Seph berated him, "Besides, someone else is here,"

Steiner turned back to the entrance way to see another man entering the room as Seph had told him.

"What's going on here?" The new man questioned, he was fairly old, sporting grey hair and wearing a long robe.

"Sir! We have unknown visitors who wish to see the Regent," The elite guard informed the man, who would seem to be the Minister, Artania, whom he called for, "And one of them is carrying a pendant that looks like a Falcon Claw,"

Artania looked towards the group, a look of shock and recognition showing on his face, "You are dismissed. I'll take care of this,"

"Yes, Sir!" The elite guard saluted before leaving the dock.

"Uncle Artania!" Dagger exclaimed, running up and hugging the man.

"It's good to see you, Princess," Artania responded, returning her hug, "Please follow me, the Regent is waiting,"

Dagger stepped back, releasing him from her hug and allowing him to lead the way. Dagger followed after him, casting a questioning look back at the party, who returned it before following after the pair, one question on their minds, '_How did he know we were here?_' After leaving the dock, they walked through another room before entering a large elevator.

"Big castle..." Seph murmured to himself, looking around at his first visit in person.

"Lindblum Castle has three levels, all connected by this lift," Artania explained, operating the levers, "From the Base Level, which lies below the mist, you can take a trolley to the harbour and back gate. Ships hardly arrive at the harbour anymore since travel by air has become so popular. The mist poses great danger, so we've sealed off everything. Just above the Base Level is the Mid Level. You can ride the aircab from the Mid Level to go to town. The Upper Level contains the royal chambers and conference room. Access to that level is restricted because the regent himself resides there,"

"Hey Dagger," Zidane asked, seemingly remembering something, "What's Regent Cid like? I lived in Lindblum for a while, but I've never really met him,"

"Regent Cid is very wise," Dagger stated, "He always thinks ahead. He may seem a bit odd at times, but he is very dependable. He and my father were best friends... I wonder if he'll listen to what I have to say?"

"Don't worry," Zidane assured her, "We're not leaving until he does,"

"We'll arrive at the Upper Level shortly," Artania informed them.

* * * * *

Seph's Point of View – Upper Level

* * * * *

The elevator had come to a rest and the doors opened by themselves. We were all led towards a set of double doors just up a flight of stairs.

Me, Zidane and Vivi were asked to wait outside while they all entered to meet the Reagent.

"OG...!!! OGLOP!!!" We were just getting comfortable, before the ever recognisable scream of Steiner was heard as clear as day. I sighed; pulling myself away from the wall I leant against and followed Zidane and Vivi into the room.

"Dagger, what's wrong?" Zidane questioned as we barged into the room, "Why aren't you talking to--" his eyes reached the throne, "GEEZ! That's an oglop!"

"So that's an oglop..." I observed, having never seen one before. It was a strange, over sized bug sporting a white moustache. I chose to believe that normal oglops don't generally have a moustache, since this was the Regent.

"Wow... Even the oglops are big in Lindblum..." Vivi commented.

"What is the meaning of this!" Steiner was near yelling, I was starting to think he only had two volumes, loud and really loud, "How dare you greet the princess like this!? Get that repulsive bug off the throne immediately, and call the Regent!"

"Please settle down," Artania asked of him, "You ARE before the Regent,"

"What!? Enough of your nonsense!" Steiner demanded, not understanding the situation.

"Steiner, stand down," Dagger ordered, "I recognise that moustache. Is that really you, Uncle Cid?"

"Yes. Greetings, all gwok" Cid spoke, "I am Cid Fabool, Regent of Lindblum. I knew it was you-- I recognized your pendant's description; so much like my 'Falcon Claw.' I'm delighted to see you again, Garnet. You have truly gwok become a fine lady. I on the other hand..."

"Allow me to explain," Artania stepped forward, "About six months ago, someone snuck into he castle and attacked the Regent in his sleep. Unfortunately, we were too late... The Regent had been transformed into an oglop, and his wife, Lady Hilda, was abducted,"

'_Nice cover story,_' I thought.

"My goodness..." Dagger gasped.

"Whoever pulled this off had to be highly skilled, like me," Zidane commented.

"Hmph, I bet it was you," Steiner turned on him... again.

"Stop blaming him for everything," I told the knight.

"That's not possible," Cid stated.

"How can you be so sure?" Zidane turned his attention back to Cid, "Do you know who we are?"

"Of course," He answered simply, "I may be a bug gwok, but I am still the ruler of Lindblum,"

"Uncle Cid," Dagger spoke up, "I appreciate you helping me on such short notice. I desperately need to speak to you about my mother,"

"That's what I figured. But I'm sure it can wait 'til tomorrow. Why don't you get some rest today?" Cid offered.

"Thank you," Dagger was relieved.

"It is time for lunch, please follow me," Artania informed us.

"Not that I don't appreciate you're offer," Zidane interjected, "But I'd prefer to get something to eat outside of the castle,"

"If you don't mind, I'll join you," I told him, making to follow.

"Certainly sirs," Artania seemed to understand.

"We'll catch up with you guys later," I waved over my shoulder following Zidane towards the elevator and taking it down a floor.

"Any reason you decided to come along?" He queried.

"Eh, I have a couple of things I need to do in town and a quick bite to eat will do me fine," I answered.

"Yeah, you won't be much use with half a sword," he joked, as the elevator arrived at the appropriate floor, "But you may have to wait for tomorrow, it'll be a bit late when we're finished" Zidane informed me before stepping out and leading the way to the aircab, "So, is this your first time in Lindblum?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Well, the way you were gawping like Vivi on the way in was a bit of a hint,"

"Hehe," I hadn't realised I was, "Well, yeah… it's a lot bigger than I imagined,"

"A lot of people say that," Zidane told me as we approached the aircab, the attendant opened the door for us and we stepped in.

"Where to?" he asked, turning to the controls.

"The Industrial District," Zidane told him, just glancing in his direction to address him before turning back to our earlier conversation.

"Industrial District?" I questioned as the aircab whirred to life as the engines started.

"Oh, yeah," Zidane explained, "Lindblum is split into three main districts, Industrial, Theatre and Business, and, along with the Castle, all of these areas are connected with these aircabs,"

"No no no," I interrupted, shaking my head, "I mean… thanks for the explanation, but food… In the Industrial District?"

"Oh right. No, it's not as bad as it sounds. 'Sides, I know a great place,"

* * * * *

After the aircab docked, Zidane led us through the streets. I walked alongside him, just looking at everything around me. Zidane was right, it's nothing like what an Industrial District would be like back home, for one, everything's a lot cleaner, and the buildings are a lot less crowded.

"You really should stop gawping at everything like that," Zidane observed, "You make it obvious that you're a tourist,"

"Your point?" I set my eyes back on the path ahead.

"Just saying. Pickpockets tend to target those that are in unfamiliar places, and I'm talking from experience,"

"Duly noted," I wasn't about to lose what Gil I had left. I had a sword to fix.

"So, where abouts are you from?"

"Err… Alexandria," I lied, '_I really should plan things for situations like this,_'

"Oh right," Zidane nodded, not noticing my hesitation, "I grew up in Lindblum so I know this place like the back of my hand," he grinned, "Well, we're here," he said, as we came to a stop outside of a pub.

"Good choice,"

"I don't know about you, but I can't stand the food at the castle. It's way to high class for my tastes,"

"Ditto," I affirmed, "I'd much prefer a good pub lunch any day,"

"Yeah, the cheap food here is much better. Today's special is…" he cast his eyes at a board outside, "Soup du Silence. Not bad,"

"Eh, I'm fine with anything," I told him, joining him inside. The pair of us approached a man behind a counter.

"Yo, pops. I'll have the stupid special," Zidane declared, grabbing the man's attention.

"Who said that!?" He looked up in our direction, "Zidane… I figured that was you,"

"How've you been?"

"Alright, I guess…" The man shrugged, "What about your friend here?" he indicated me.

"Eh, I'll have roast… meat of some kind, I'm not terribly picky, surprise me," I had my fill of vegetables back at Dali.

"Sure, sure. One special and I'll get you some roast beef," he told us, writing it down, "Have a seat, it'll be ready in a minute,"

I took him up on his offer and snagged a seat at the bar. The only other person sat here was a women dressed in red robes with a long thin tail. Catching a glimpse of her face revealed her to be some kind of anthropomorphic rat. I instantly recognized her as the dragon knight, Freya.

"Do you mind? You're standing in everyone's way," I turned around in my seat to see Zidane was blocking the path of a waitress.

"Wow…" Zidane said, watching her as she passed, "Hey!" he quickly grabbed her attention again.

"Yeah? You want a drink?" she turned back to face him.

"How about you and me go on a cruise in an airship?" Zidane offered, working his 'charm.'

"Really!?" she sounded excited at the idea, "An airship!?"

"Sounds like you've never been on one. You know, Lindblum is quite a sight from above," I wasn't going to disagree with him there.

"Hey, monkey-tail, you're disturbing the other customers," Freya yelled over her shoulder.

"What the--" Zidane whirled on her, "you've got a tail, too, rat-face!"

"Smooth…" I commented on his child like reaction, earning me a quick glare from him.

"Rat-face… After I finish my drink, I'm going to kick your butt,"

"Hey Zidane take it outside!" the bartenders voice called out from the back.

Freya stood up and turned to face Zidane, revealing who she was. Look of recognition appeared on Zidane's face as she addressed him, "Long time, Zidane,"

"Hey! What's up!? Wait a minute…" he put his hand on his chin, thinking.

"You forgot my name?" Freya asked him.

"No, I remember. You're Helga, right?" I could help him out, but I'm not supposed to know her name after all, or at least, I probably shouldn't.

"Wrong," she informed him.

"…Christine?"

"No!"

"…Oh yeah! You used to live next door to me. How's it going… Ratchel. Man, you've gotten… big!"

"You nasty, little--"

"Come on. I'm just kiddin'. You know I never forget a pretty girl's name," Zidane took an empty seat between me and Freya, "So, how've you been Freya?"

"…Same old Zidane," Freya chuckled, "By the way, who's your friend,"

"Oh right. This is Seph," Zidane introduced us.

"Hey," I gave her a friendly smile and wave.

"Greetings," she nodded her head.

"So, how long has it been?" Zidane started the conversation with the introductions out of the way.

"About 3 years," Freya estimated.

"Hey, did you ever find out anything about your boyfriend?"

"No…" Freya shifted her gaze downwards, with a look of sadness.

"So… What brings you to Lindblum?" Zidane asked, changing the subject.

"The Festival of The Hunt. What else?" She stated it like it was obvious, "It's a good opportunity to test my skills,"

"Oh… Well, I hope you find him someday,"

"You're not participating?"

"…Nah. I think I'll pass"

"Lazy bum," Freya commented.

"Come on," I gave him a nudge, "It wouldn't be a contest without you,"

"Seph, you're participating?" He gave me a questioning look.

"Well, I've wanted to, but never had the time. I figure, since I'm here, what the hell,"

"You should be careful," Freya warned, "It can be very dangerous. It's not too uncommon for participants to die,"

"Seph can watch himself," Zidane stated, "He wouldn't be here now if he couldn't. Course, he'll need a new weapon,"

"I was just gonna get it fixed, but a new one might not be a bad idea," I realised. I wouldn't want it to break again from too much stress.

"There is a synthesis shop in the Business District," Zidane told me, "They could improve your weapons if you don't want to replace them. I'm thinking of swinging by there later myself,"

"Does that mean you plan on entering," Freya chided.

"Well, I can't let you two get all the glory," he laughed.

The bartender returned with our food. Zidane's a bowl of soup. Mine a plate of beef with a small amount of vegetables, nothing like the amount at Dali, which was a-okay in my books.

Zidane dove in, and I immediately realized the folly of ordering meat. I couldn't cut with one hand.

"Great…" I mumbled, trying to rip the beef with just a fork or trying to jam the knife in between my fingers without breaking them off.

* * * * *

Freya hung around for a bit as we ate, but eventually left us to it, citing that she had things to do in preparation for the festival. Zidane finished up fairly quickly and paid for the two of us and waited around for me to finish as I struggled through the meat, choosing instead to just jam it on the fork and rip chunks off as I ate.

I thanked the bartender and the pair of us stepped back outside to be greeted by a rapidly darkening sky.

"Well, we should probably get some sleep," I mentioned.

"Yeah, we can sign up for the Festival tomorrow," he added, as we walked back towards the aircab, "There's an Inn in the Business District, we can stay there. I'll cover it this time, but you'll owe me,"

"Thanks," I told him, partially thankful that I had as much money as I had for my weapon, "We should probably grab Vivi from the castle. I'm not sure if they'll let him stay there, but he'd probably prefer to stay with us,"

"Good idea. They should be finished by now; you were a slow eater after all,"

"Hey! You try eating with only one hand,"

"I did," He pointed out, only using a spoon for the soup.

"Grrr, just… shut up!" I told him, defeated.

Zidane just laughed as we boarded the aircab.

The journey was quick. We arrived and found Vivi easily enough. I was right, he did prefer staying with us, so we bid the others goodnight and boarded the aircab again, this time heading for the Business District. The Inn was directly opposite the station, so we walked in, Zidane paid for the rooms, and the three of us headed upstairs. There were three rooms on this floor and another floor above us, which wasn't in the game, but the corridor was longer too, with more space between the doors, so I didn't think about it much. My room was up another floor, so I bid farewell and headed up, to bed, glad to have a decent nights sleep for once.

* * * * *

I woke up to the light streaming in through my window. I saw my satchel in one corner and my swords leant up against a table. Somehow, while I was half asleep, I had gotten up and removed all my clothes, leaving me in just my pants, and somehow folded them up and placed them on the table.

"Huh, I wonder how I folded with one arm…" I though out loud.

_(A/N: I actually tried to fold clothes without moving an arm, it's really hard .)_

I looked around the room. The only window opened onto the main street. There were two doors in the room as well. One led back to the corridor we came in by, and after checking, the second was a bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower with some toiletries.

I decided to get a shower before dressing, it had been a few days since I arrived and I really needed it. After washing, and drying, I'd gotten dressed, sans arm guard, and chose my white shirt this morning. I'd just got my swords back into place and munched down a quick breakfast from the food in my satchel when I heard a knocking at my door. Upon opening it, I come face to face with both Zidane and Vivi.

"Morning guys," I greeted, "You're both up early,"

"Early? It's the afternoon, we came to make sure you weren't dead," Zidane informed me.

"Wow… I haven't slept away a morning in a while,"

"Lindblum is a really busy place," Vivi told me, probably having looked outside, "I've never seen this many people before. I wonder where you go to be alone…"

"Eh, you learn to tune it out I guess," I shrugged, "You kind of have to after a point. All big cities are the same,"

"He's right, Lindblum's always been like this. People come here from all over the world. Some of them come here to become airship engineers, sculptors, actors…"

"Wow…" Vivi listened in amazement.

"I don't even remember why I came here my first time," Zidane thought back, "Before I knew it, I was living with my Tantalus brothers,"

"Do they still live here now?" Vivi looked to him.

"Yeah. Our hideout is in the Theatre District. I'm gonna go there right now. Do you wanna come along?,"

"Um, that's okay. I'm gonna go look around town,"

"What about you Seph?"

"I'll pass for now. I think I'll take Vivi's idea and explore for a bit, I could always swing by later I suppose,"

"Okay. Then I'll give you a little tour,"

"…No, that's okay. I can go by myself," Vivi declined.

"Yeah, thanks for the offer, but I'll stick with exploring,"

"Well, suit yourselves. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do,"

"I don't think there is much that you wouldn't do," I commented

* * * * *

The three of us went our separate ways. Zidane entered the aircab station, bound for the Theatre District and Vivi ran ahead; eager to explore everything he could, leaving me on my own.

I turned left down the street from the Inn, or it was more of a hotel from the size of it and the rooms. The street was straight, behind me was a gate leading out of the city and ahead of me the street opened into a large square. The middle of the street was lined with flower gardens with breaks every 10 or so feet allowing people to get from one side to the other without stepping through the flowers.

'_This place is a lot bigger than it appears in the game,_' I observed, entering the square, '_Hmm, I hope I have __enough money for the weapons. Should have about… 1,200 Gil,_' I mentally did the sums, a sinking feeling appearing in the pit of my stomach.

The square had three exits, I came from one, another to the left of me headed towards the church and the furthest led to the various shops, including the synthesis, item and weapons shops. Several people walked around the square and a cart was set up on my right with a woman selling something. I set my sights on the path to the synthesis shop and headed that way. It was a short path, but longer than in the game, lined with houses on either side. The path opened up onto a fountain with the shops all around it. Ahead was the item shop, weapons on my right and I went left to the synthesis shop.

Stepping in was like walking into a furnace. It wasn't far from the truth as the far wall was occupied by a large furnace used to heat the metals. The walls and tables were lined with tools and various pieces of what I assumed to be products made by them, either on display to show their craftsmanship, or awaiting the customers to return and collect them.

I approached a desk where there was a worker behind it, he looked up from his work to see me approaching, "Afternoon," he greeted, "What can I help you with?"

"Hey, I was wondering if you could fix this up for me," I removed my right had blade showing that it had broken and took the scabbard from my back to place it on the table in front of him when he took my right blade to inspect it.

"Hmm, it shouldn't be a problem to fix," He said, looking back to me, "But the metal seems to be of low quality. In my opinion, I'd recommend replacing the whole thing,"

_He lies! That sword isn't low quality!_

'_Yeah, but it broke. I'm more willing to believe him,_' I look at the weapon, "Can't you just replace the blade?"

"That should be easy enough," He tells me, while trying to take my second sword out.

"There's a catch just under the hilt," I didn't even have to think about it anymore, but I'll never got over how stupid I must of looked the first time.

"Thanks," He pulled it out and made some measurements, "Tell you what, bring me a couple of mithril daggers and 700 Gil, and I'll knock them into size and shape and you'll have yourself two swords as good as knew and they'll last a damn sight longer too,"

"S-Sure," I stammered as he handed me back my weapons, "I'll get right on that. I'll be back later," I waved as I left, '_One dagger alone is nearly 1,000 Gil,_' I sighed, '_I wonder if I can find a suitable replacement for now,_' I wondered, entering the weapon shop.

The walls were lined with weapons and a couple of mannequins were displaying suits of armour. I couldn't help but notice an over sized sword on the wall, reminiscent of the Buster Sword used by Cloud in Final Fantasy VII, even commented on by Zidane in game. There were a couple of people browsing the wears on display and a big man behind the counter who greeted me as I entered.

"Hey there, welcome to Dragoo's Weapon Shop. With the festival going on, we're having a special,"

'_I'd forgotten about that,_'

"Are you after anything in particular?"

"Yeah, two mithril daggers for less than 500 Gil," I mumbled, head hung low.

"Bwahahaha!" He laughed, "We lowered our prices, but not that low,"

"Yeah, I figured," I looked around at the walls, "Okay, how about a short sword, or a similar one handed sword? I just need something to last the festival that's of a good quality,"

"Hmm, if you're strapped for cash, you could try an Iron Broadsword, it's two-handed though, but it packs a punch,"

"Can't," I demonstrated by banging my arm on the desk, "Petrified arm,"

"I've never seen anything like that before…" He commented, "Why not get a soft from next door?"

"It won't work; it's the petification of Evil Forest,"

"Evil Forest you say? Well that explains it," He nods, "So a one handed weapon huh? Just a second, I think I may have one left…" He stepped behind a wall into what I assume they kept the stuff that wasn't on display. He came back a few moments later after much clanging in the back, holding onto a sword in a sheath, "I know you said short sword, but the closest I got is this mithril longsword. It'll be longer than your used to, but the mithril is light, so you won't notice too much of a weight difference, but the price might set you back a bit. But that depends on what you wanted those two daggers for,"

"Synthesis materials," I explained, "I needed them and 700 Gil,"

"Hmm, this sword should do as a replacement, so it shouldn't go to waste when you raise the cash. But it'll cost you 900 Gil, if you're willing to pay that much. And that's including the sale discount,"

"I don't have much of a choice," I told him, counting out the coins, "At least it should cover for one of the daggers,"

"Hey, if you win, you could easily get all your money back. Even after the sales are off, you should still have more than enough,"

"There's an idea, thanks!" I told him, taking the sword in exchange for my money, '_now I just need to beat Zidane and Freya to the Zaghnol and I'm all set,_'

"No problem, just make sure you win then," I grinned at him, leaving the store, sword in hand. I decided to quickly stop by the item shop, '_I'll need some potions if I plan on winning. With the two in my satchel, another two should be fine,_'

The shop has many wares stacked upon shelves set against the walls. It reminds me of a convenience store back home. A young woman is stood behind the register and Vivi is on this side making a purchase.

'_Vivi!_'

"Really!? Thank you!" He stuffs a strange nut into his pockets. I notice that I'm fairly late in this scene, "Um… What is this Festival of the Hunt like?"

"Well, we let a bunch of animals loose and…" the shopkeeper begins to tell him.

"It sounds like fun! Thank you!" Vivi turns to leave, but bumps into me, "Oh sor- Seph!" He didn't even realize it was me, "Did you hear? There's gonna be a Festival with lots of animals!"

"I heard," I told him.

"I can't wait!" he stepped past me to the door, "I'll see you later Seph!"

"What's so fun about fighting savage beasts…?" I turn to hear the shopkeeper talking, "Wait a minute! Did I say animals again!?"

"Yeah, sounds it," I tell her, approaching the register, "Don't worry, I'll let him know before he gets into trouble,"

"You will? Oh thank you!" She bowed politely, "Is there anything you want?"

"Oh, right. Just a couple of potions,"

"Certainly. Here you are sir," she hands me two potions that she pulled from a shelf behind her, "That'll be 200 Gil please,"

"Thanks," I hand her the coins and clipped the potions onto my belt, '_A little over 100 Gil left,_'

Back outside the shop, Vivi is no where in sight, '_Man, that kid can run fast,_' I look around, making sure I haven't missed him, '_Ah well, I'll see him back at the castle,_' I shrug, heading back for the main square. I can't help but bump into Steiner as he is heading for the weapon shop, "Oh, hey Steiner…" I see that he's giving off an awful smell and carrying a bag I hadn't seen before.

"Oh, Seph, was it?" he asked, still little unsure of my name, apparently.

"Yeah… Quick question, what is that god awful smell?"

"I'll have you know that smell is the gysahl pickles, a delicacy of Lindblum," he informed me.

"Ahhh… I've never been a big fan of pickles," I told him, "Anyway, I'm sure you have things to do. I'll see you around," I wave to him as I continue towards the aircab station, '_I wonder… Should I check to see if the Festival of the Hunt starts soon… or is Zidane still back at his hideout?_' I had managed to board the aircab without thinking and the driver was looking at me a bit impatient.

"Hey, you going to answer? Where to?"

"Oh, sorry… the Theatre District," I told him. I took this chance to thread my new longsword onto my belt. I settled the weapon so that the hilt came to a rest at my left hip, '_I suppose that'll have to do for now,_' I thought, making a mental note to draw the correct weapon in my next fight.

The aircab arrived in the Theatre district quick enough; I thanked the driver and disembarked. Looking around, I had to admit, the Theatre District was definitely one of the nicer districts. I gathered my bearings and started for the Tantalus hideout. As I walked, I found myself whistling, not just any tune, but Dagger's song. As I thought about it, I began to realise where about the story was, and looking up confirmed it as I caught sight of Freya leaping from roof top to roof top. The hideout wasn't a long walk, it was round the corner and down a flight of stairs, the door on my right, if I carried on down this path I'd end up at the theatre.

Entering, the place looked deserted… Well, actually, it was a complete mess, as though someone had ransacked the place. Upon further inspection, most of the valuables (if they could be called that) were strewn about as well, leading me to assume that they were all really messy, which, given who they were, was likely the correct assumption. They hadn't come here since Evil Forest; the destruction we caused at South Gate has probably slowed them down greatly.

"Hello?" I called out, trying to determine if anyone was actually here, "Zidane?" still, I received no answer, "Must be back at the castle," I thought aloud. Shrugging, I walked back to the aircab to catch a ride back to the castle. I arrived back to see a guard standing at the entrance.

"Please hurry, the Festival of the Hunt is going to start any minute," He waved me over and left the room. I followed him quickly as he led me to what looked like a guest bedroom. All the others had gathered here too, just waiting for the Festival to start.

"Yo, Seph! I thought you were going to miss it," Zidane greeted me.

"I think I might, I completely forgot to sign up,"

"I got you covered," he assured me, "I signed you up when I noticed you hadn't,"

"Thanks," I told him, unable to say more as an Elite Guard grabbed everyone's attention.

"Okay, let's begin," the guard started. He unrolled a scroll and began to read aloud from it, "Hunters, on your mark! Ferocious beasts swarm about the castle town! The bigger the catch, the higher the score! The time limit is 30 minutes…"

'_That's longer than the game,_' I thought, '_But a twelve minute festival is a bit short,_'

"…Use the aircabs to go to other districts. Once you lose in battle, you will be forced to retire. The winner will be crowned Master Hunter and will receive the hunter's reward. Who will come out on top!?" he finished, rolling the scroll back up, "What do you wish for your hunter's reward?"

"I'll go with Gil all the way!" Zidane started.

"I'll join him with Gil too," I answered, '_I really need this Gil for once,_'

_At least you have motivation to win._

"I'll take an Add-on," Freya replied.

"And you, Mr. Vivi?"

"WHAT!? I never signed up!" Vivi exclaimed. I cast a sideways glance at Zidane, and he saw that I knew.

"I thought you would do pretty well, so I signed you up," Zidane told him, "Don't worry. With your black magic, it'll be a piece of cake,"

"I… I don't know…" Vivi shuffled, uncomfortable.

"That was very inconsiderate of you, Zidane," Freya told him.

"Oh!" Zidane, seemingly to have realised something, kneeled down to whisper something to Vivi.

"Me and the princess!?" Vivi suddenly said aloud, before Zidane quickly quieted him.

"What was that!?" Steiner demanded, "You just mentioned the princess. What evil deeds are you plotting?"

'_He's saying he'll hook Vivi up on a date with Dagger if he wins,_' I mentally replied.

"It's nothing, right Vivi?" Zidane stood back up, finished whispering to Vivi.

"Y-Yeah!" Vivi assured Steiner, but he gave a bit of a dubious look to the pair, before seeming to let the matter go.

"So, what would you like as your reward?" The elite guard reminded.

"Oh, um… I'll take a Card,"

"Okay, that's two Gils, an Add-on and… a Card," The guard confirmed, making a note of it, "The festival will begin shortly. You all have different starting points. Hunter Zidane will start in the Theatre District, Hunter Freya will start in the Industrial District and Hunters Seph and Vivi will start in the largest district, the Business District. Once you are ready, please proceed to the aircab station, we will only begin once all the contestants have arrived at their district," The guard turned and left.

Everyone, seemingly already prepared, followed after him. I stopped for a moment and removed the last two potions from my satchel, clipped them to my belt as well, and left it in the guest room to pick up later. With all my things sorted, I followed after the others.

* * *

Ehh, so I lied about the Festival of the Hunt, this chapter was starting to get way too big. If I had continued writing it would've been a couple more days for the update.

So, next chapter *will* be the Festival of the Hunt, and it should come out a lot faster. I seem more eager to write chapters with more combat in them than the more dialogue filled ones, at the moment anyway, and the next chapter is pretty much, purely combat.

Well, reviews are appreciated, and I'll see you next time ^_^


	9. Chapter 9: Festival of the Hunt

Welcome back readers. Now we get onto the Festival of the Hunt, hope you enjoy it.

By the way, whenever I write something between asterisks like *this* it is the broadcast informing the people of the scores and is heard by everyone in the town.

* * * * *

**The Duelist of Dawn:** Thanks for the review

**Hiiro Mizutani:** Yeah, I was on a bit of a roll there, thanks for coming back and reviewing. As for how you do the fights, I sometimes do that, depending on how much trouble I have keeping the flow of the battle.

* * * * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters, they are property of Square Enix, I do however own my SI/OC Sepheris.

* * *

Final Fantasy IX: Legacy – Disc 1/Chapter 9 – Festival of the Hunt

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Aircab Station

* * * * *

Zidane, Freya and Vivi arrived, along with the Elite Guard that briefed them on the Festival, while Dagger and Steiner joined Regent Cid and Minister Artania in observing the participants. Seph joined Zidane and company moments later after lagging behind to grab his potions.

"Since you are all here, we'll get underway," The guard announced, "Hunter Vivi will enter first. Once he has left, Hunter Freya shall depart followed by Hunter Zidane. Hunter Seph shall depart last, giving Hunter Vivi the opportunity to get some distance between them. Kills won't be counted until all the hunters are in position, but the timer won't begin until then also, so please bare that in mind. An announcement will be broadcast once the last hunter has arrived, along with periodical announcements of the time remaining,"

"Well, I suppose that explains how I'll be starting apart from Vivi," Seph stated as the black mage in question boarded the aircab, "Good luck Vivi!" Seph called out, while Zidane and Freya offered similar encouragement, '_I thought Lani participated in this? Where does she start from? Or thinking about it, all the other participants?_' Seph pondered to himself.

Freya boarded the next aircab that arrived, "Zidane, Seph. I hope that you'll make this an interesting race," she told the pair as the doors closed and the aircab left.

"She sounds almost certain," Zidane observed.

"Like we'll just let her win," Seph stated, determined.

A third aircab arrived, this time for Zidane.

"Even though we're friends, I won't go easy on you," Zidane informed Seph, stepping into the aircab.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Seph grinned, waving Zidane off as the aircab left for the Theatre District.

Seph waited around for a couple of moments before the final aircab arrived to take him to his starting position in the Business District.

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Seph - Business District [30 Minutes Remaining]

* * * * *

*Attention Hunters! The final Hunter has arrived in position! The Festival of the Hunt is now underway!*

Was broadcast to the entire town, informing all the hunters and spectators that the timer had begun and that any kills from this point on were counted. Seph cast his eyes around, surveying his surroundings, looking for his first fight. He was greeted by a lone fang leaving through the door of a house.

'_Some people might not have had time to close up,_' Seph thought to himself. Preparing to strike, Seph drew his new mithril longsword. The blade was a few inches longer than his normal shortswords, but the metal was noticeable lighter and had a green hue to it instead of the regular silver.

Weapon in hand, Seph charged the lone Fang, "Hey! Ugly!" Seph yelled, grabbing its attention. The Fang looked towards him, unable to react in time as his sword sliced into it, killing it instantly. Seph turned to look as the corpse changed to mist, like usual. He watched the body disappear then noticed, "Huh, forgot, these guys don't drop loot,"

"AHHH!" Seph stopped sheathing his sword as a scream alerted him to more monsters. He ran the direction the scream originated from, entering the main square. He was alone for a few moments, looking for a sign to which way the scream came from, but Vivi burst into the square with four Trick Sparrows chasing after him, big blue birds with a yellow-ish gold head.

"Break!" A bolt of grey magic shot out of his petrified arm, changing one of the birds into a statue that promptly shattered as it hit the floor, "At least my aim is improving," Seph observed.

The Sparrows stopped momentarily, slightly stunned at the sudden action, "Th-Thanks, Seph," Vivi muttered to Seph as he approached the little mage.

"Don't worry about it," Seph assured him, "But seriously, your stronger than you think. With your magic, they should be a piece of cake,"

"I-I p-panicked," Vivi stuttered. Seph held something out to him, two bottles, "W-Wha-?"

"Ethers," Seph told him, "You're a mage, you'll need them more than I will,"

"Thanks," Vivi accepted the gift, stowing them away in his robe. Looking up, he pointed a finger at the Sparrows behind Seph, "L-Look out!"

Seph turned to see that the three remaining Trick Sparrows had decided to finish what they started and were flying at speed towards the pair of them, "To easy," Seph muttered, drawing his sword back, "Impulse-"

"Fire!" Vivi cast a spell, Seph was watching for one of the birds to erupt into fire, when none did, he cast his eyes back, to see that Vivi aimed at the gathering force.

"Thanks Vivi," Seph grinned back, "Impulse Fire Wave!" and swung his blade, launching an arc of fire towards the birds. They tried to quickly avoid the attack but the fire washed over them, leaving nothing behind, either a result of them reverting to mist, or the ash was too fine, "Well, with that done, I guess we should part ways,"

"I-I guess," Vivi muttered.

"You'll be fine. And remember, your competing with us, so try not to help too much, not that I don't appreciate it," Seph grinned again.

"You're right," Vivi nodded, "I can do this,"

"Adda boy,"

*Hunter Seph is has gained the lead with 48 points!*

"I wonder how they add the points up so quick," Seph pondered aloud, "Well, you'd better get going Vivi, you'll have a run for your money if you stick around,"

"Oh, yeah," Vivi nodded, "Thanks again Seph," He waved over his shoulder, running towards the aircab station, likely to change location.

"Now… do I stay here and wait for the Zaghnol… or kill as much as I can and check back periodically…" Seph put a hand to his chin, pondering, "It would be a lot easier if I knew if it appeared after 7 and half-ish minutes or when there was 4 and a half left… stupid change in time"

'Grrrrrrr'

Seph turned to see a small group of three Fangs approaching from another street, "Ah well, I'll worry about it later, for now, I'll just kill anything that moves. Raghhh!" Seph charged the group, sword raised, magic charging, ready to do some damage.

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Zidane - Theatre District [21 Minutes Remaining]

* * * * *

Zidane watched as the Mu's body evaporated away. Counting that, he had killed two Mus and a Fang. Dusting himself off, Zidane looked for his next quarry.

"Man, Seph ain't making this easy," he jogged past the Tantalus hideout, heading back from the theatre towards the small square outside of the aircab station.

*Attention Hunters, there are 20 minutes remaining*

Zidane climbed a set of stairs leading to a small square when a Trick Sparrow dive bombed towards him. Thinking fast, he rolled to the side, avoiding the attack and drew his dagger again as he got to his feet. He turned to face the Sparrow and raised his dagger to strike as the bird tried another dive bomb, needless to say, that was it's last as Zidane's daggers struck home, killing it instantly.

*Hunter Zidane has taken the lead with 54 points!*

"Haha, take that Seph," Zidane cheered to himself.

*Hunter Freya has stolen the lead with 74 points!*

"Dammit, I forgot about Freya too," Zidane shook his head, "Don't those guys know I have a date with Dagger on the line here?"

Zidane dashed towards the aircab station to change locations, figuring he had killed most wild life in the Theatre District, at least until more drifted over there from other places.

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Freya - Industrial District [17 Minutes Remaining]

* * * * *

Freya lifted her spear, the bodies of two Fangs faded away, signifying their defeat.

"It would appear that both Zidane and his friend Seph are worthy opponents," Freya observed, "However, I shall win this,"

*Hunter Seph has regained the lead with 102 points!*

"Then again, this will be a close call," Freya observed.

*Attention Hunters, there are 15 minutes remaining*

"Hmph, no time to wait," Freya readied her spear and charged through the streets, aiming her path towards the aircab station, wanting a change in location, while cutting down anything that decided to get in her way

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Seph - Business District [15 Minutes Remaining]

* * * * *

"Stupid… Fangs," Seph panted, regaining his breath. The three Fangs posed a greater challenge than he first thought as they were stronger than those he faced in Evil Forest. All that remained was a single statue, "Well, I used three Breaks on the airship, so one more is my limit, any more and I risk passing out," Seph noted to himself.

*Hunter Freya has retaken the lead with 107 points!*

"This is starting to get annoying. Anything I kill, they quickly catch right back up,"

*Hunter Vivi has entered the lead with 115 points!*

"Huh, go Vivi, though that kinda proves my point,"

_Quit complaining, if you went and killed more instead of just standing here, then you wouldn't have this problem._

"Oh be quite, I'm going, I'm going," Seph mumbled to the usually quite Alex before leaving the square and heading for the Church.

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Dagger & Steiner - Observing [14 Minutes Remaining]

* * * * *

"Master Vivi is doing much better," Steiner stated, watching Vivi as he blasted another monster with fire.

"Yes, I don't know what Seph said to him, but it worked," Dagger nodded.

"Hmm, speaking of Seph, is he talking to himself?" Steiner squinted, trying to see more clearly.

"I'm… I'm not sure… But it looks like it," Dagger tried to see also, but the pair lost sight as he dashed into another street behind some buildings.

*Hunter Zidane has once more retaken the lead with 121 points!*

"Curse that monkey," Steiner shook his fist in anger, "Go on Master Vivi! You can beat him!"

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Seph – Business District [13 Minutes Remaining]

* * * * *

"Well Zidane's leading again," Seph noted, shaking his head, "At this rate, it's almost guaranteed I'll lose,"

As he rounded a bend in the street, he was rewarded with two Mus and a Trick Sparrow.

"Well, this works," Seph raised his sword to attack and closed the distance to the enemies.

He nearly got there, but the two Mus seemingly pulled a pile of stones out of no where and began to bombard him. Seph had to raise both his arms to protect himself from the miniature missiles. The Mus let up for a moment and Seph was about to take his chance to attack when the Trick Sparrow crashed into his raised arms, knocking him to the ground. Slightly dazed, Seph began to pull himself to his feet, but once more the Mus began pelting him with stones.

"It's decided, you die first, Impulse Wave!" Seph sent an arc of force towards the Mus, one dodged it to the side, but the other wasn't as lucky. Seph jumped in and slashed the last Mu with his sword, killing it also.

He turned to face the Trick Sparrow and received a blast of fire to his face, "Argh! That hurts!" He dropped his sword to rub his face, he learnt while showering that the stone is like sandpaper, "Ugh, forgot you could do that," Seph lowered his hand to grab a potion and chugged back the contents. The pain of the fire subsided and he grabbed his weapon, "Now, you're turn," He charged the Trick Sparrow that unleashed another fire spell, this one glanced off his shoulder, inflicting minor burns, but it wasn't enough to stop him. He leapt into the air and swung his sword in an overhead arc bringing it down on the Trick Sparrow, "Crap, I liked this shirt too," Seph commented on the new burn hole in the shoulder.

*Attention Hunters, there are 10 minutes remaining*

"Crap, the Zaghnol is probably there by now, or will be soon," Seph started down the alleyway, heading towards the location as the other shops, "Wait, I didn't get the lead," he observed, "Zidane must be killing a lot, but Freya can't be far behind,"

* * * * *

Entering the shopping area with the fountain in the centre, Seph observed that there was no Zaghnol yet; however there were two others with him, neither of them looked to be participating in the festival, an obvious thing as the pair were both just kids.

"You two have got to get out of here, something big is coming," Seph told them, hoping to get rid of any bystanders.

"But we only want to watch," One of them argued.

"That's not the point," Seph approached, "If it sees you, it'll attack,"

"M-Mister… Behind you," Fear filled their eyes as one of them pointed behind Seph.

Seph stood motionless, a look of dread washed over his face. Slowly, he turned and came to face a large overgrown boar with giant tusks protruding from it's chin, four horns, a pair from the top of it's head and the others drawn back from it's nose and a stripe of blue fur running along it's spine, the Zaghnol, blocking the only viable exit from the small square, "Ah crap," Seph drew his weapon and readied himself. In response, the Zaghnol charged him.

Seph was about to jump out of the way, but remembered the two behind him. Instead, Seph raised his arm and sword to block the two large tusks and stop the beast's charge. He braced himself for the impact, but was pushed back several feet. The most alarming part was when a jolt of electricity ran down his sword and into his arm shocking him, "Argh!" he dropped to his knees, using all his will power not to give in.

"ZIDANE!"

"Help us!"

"Z-Zidane?" Seph cast his eyes up towards the alleyway and sure enough, he spotted Zidane standing there, daggers at the ready.

"Hey big boy! Turn around!" Zidane pulled the attention of the Zaghnol and Seph fell forward, relieved of the electricity coursing through him, "Damn, you're ugly!" Zidane commented.

Seph drank two of his potions, restoring himself to near perfect health and stood up once more.

"Glad to see you're still alive," Zidane called over.

"Yeah, yeah, I owe you one," Seph waved it off.

"You owe me more than one," Zidane noted.

"I get it!" Seph yelled, "Oh, careful, he uses an ability called electrocute, if you touch him, it shocks you,"

"Hrm, that makes things difficult," Zidane muttered.

"Allow me to help," Freya entered the area, jumping down from the roof tops.

"Okay, but I get to finish him," Zidane told her, "And that goes to you as well Seph," He called over, "I've got a date with Dagger on the line,"

"…You're ridiculous. Fine. As you wish," Freya responded.

"Speak for yourself, if you want that date, you earn it," Seph grinned.

"Alright then, I will!" Zidane retorted.

*Attention Hunters, there are 5 minutes remaining*

"Ahem, I believe you two are forgetting the matter at hand," Freya snapped the pair back into reality as the Zaghnol roared and charged Zidane and Freya.

The darted to the sides avoiding the attack and retaliated as they passed. The pair joined Seph who was also ready while Zidane was shaking out his hands.

"Ouch, you weren't kidding," Zidane commented, trying to rub feeling back into his hands. The Zaghnol turned back to face them again, but stood in place as arcs of lightning flashed over it's body.

"Did it just charge itself up?" Seph queried.

"It would appear that way," Freya observed.

"If it's not going to attack, then let's take the initiative," Zidane charged the Zaghnol, dagger ready.

"Ah well, he has a point," Seph observed, before dashing in after him with Freya close behind.

The trio dealt a number of slashes to the Zaghnol, its thick hide stopped many of the weaker hits, but the stronger attacks cut deep, drawing blood.

"Told yo-" Zidane turned to brag, but was cut short as the three of them were blasted by a high powered thunder spell.

"Gah, I knew it wasn't for nothing," Seph was the first to recover from the attack, but it showed that he was tiring, "I swear, one of these days, I'm going to reach the limit on how much I can be shocked and then I'll start blasting lightning everywhere," he mumbled to himself.

"Ugh, what was that," Zidane sat up, looking a woozy.

"It seems likely that was a Thundara spell," Freya observed, hiding her status well as she fared no better than the others.

"Yeah," Seph remembered, his memory jogged, "When it charges, it counters attacks with Thundara,"

*Hunter Vivi has once more regained the lead with 152 points! With so little time left, is this competition over?*

"Not likely," Zidane stated, drinking back a potion. He pulled himself to his feet as Seph did the same.

-Roar!-

"It's coming," Freya stated, and she leapt into the air, leaving the pair to deal with the attack.

"And you're leaving it to us!" Zidane yelled after her.

"Just deal with the problem at hand, you said you have a date on the line, the fight," Seph told him, "Now… Impulse Wave!" Seph sent the attack aimed at the Zaghnol.

"Oh no you don't!" Zidane charged the beast, trying to out run the attack Seph launched at it, "Ha!" It was close, Zidane brought both of his dagger across the face of the Zaghnol at what seemed like the same time Seph's attack hit, and to top this off, Freya was stood back on the ground with her spear lodged in the monster's head.

"That monster might've been the clincher," Zidane stated, sheathing his dagger and trying to rub feeling back into his hands again.

"You're probably right, but I couldn't tell who got the killing blow," Seph told him.

"Gee! Your friends are strong, Zidane! They're so cool!" It was one of the kids from earlier that spoke up.

"Man, I could've beaten that monster on my own!" the other kid of the pair spoke up, earning a glance from the trio, "Just kidding,"

*Attention Hunters, Time is now up, please make your way towards the castle where we will announce the winners!*

"I was kinda hoping he'd announce them now," Seph said, brushing himself off.

"Yeah, but we have to go back to the castle anyway," Zidane set off at a jog through the streets, "The quicker we get there, the quicker we here who won,"

"He has a point," Freya turned to Seph before jumping up and across the roof tops.

"Hey, no fair," Seph called after her and set off at a run to catch up with Zidane.

* * * * *

Third Point of View – Grand Castle Throne Room

* * * * *

Everyone had gathered to hear the results. Freya, Zidane, Vivi and Seph stood before the Regent Cid with Artania at his side while Dagger and Steiner stood off to the side so as to hear the results as well.

"That was marvellous, all of you," Cid informed them, congratulating them of their efforts, "We have discussed this gwok, and no one was able to determine the killing blow on the Zaghnol, so we have decided to award all three of you with the points for the kill,"

"That's generous of you," Seph spoke up.

"Now then, in third place, with 207 points was Lani, who chose not to come here," '_So she was there,_' Seph thought to himself.

"In second place, with 224 points was Vivi," This was followed by a round of congratulations, "And finally, the winner, with 426 points, a new record for the festival I might add, was…"

"Oh now you're doing it on purpose," Seph sighed.

"Okay, I've had my fun gwok, the winner was a tie between all three of you, Zidane, Freya and Seph. Congratulations,"

"Wait wait wait," Zidane shook his head and arms, "A tie? I find that unlikely,"

"Believe what you will, we have counted repeatedly, the scores match, you tied,"

"Then what now?" Freya queried.

"Simple, for your efforts, I have decided to award all three of you with the 'Master Hunter' title and you're chosen rewards,"

Both Zidane and Seph were handed 5,000 Gil and Freya was given a Coral Ring.

"Congratulations, all of you," Vivi told the trio.

"Hey, you didn't do bad yourself," Seph told him.

"Regent…" A voice from the door alerted them all to a new person who entered. It was a heavily wounded Burmecian soldier, "Please, forgive my intrusion… I bring urgent news… From our king,"

"The king of Burmecia?" Cid questioned, but he stopped as Artania leaned over to whisper something to him.

"(Sire, you must not let him see you like this!)"

"(Take a good look at him. An injury has blinded him)" Cid pointed out, "Continue,"

"Our kingdom is being attacked by some unknown force! We are severely outmatched! Please send reinforcements immediately!" A wave of shock washes over the occupants of the room, "The enemy looks like an army of mages wearing... steeple-crowned hats."

Several of them looked towards Vivi whose eyes were fixed on the floor.

"The king and I are old friends. We will send reinforcements to Burmecia immediately." Cid informed the man.

"Thank you, Regent! The kind...and all of Burmecia will be most grateful! I must...return now... ...Ugh," The soldier slumped to the floor and Freya was at his side in an instant.

"Take him to the infirmary!" Cid ordered his guards.

"It's too late. He's gone..." Freya stood up, "It's a miracle he even made it this far," she shook her head in seeming disbelief, "I can't believe this is happening..."

"This is a problem... Because of the Festival, there are hardly any men left in the castle. It will take time to mobilize," Artania pointed out to Cid.

"We have no choice... Call back the 4th aerial division patrolling the border," Cid ordered.

"But if we recall the 4th, we will lose our eyes over Alexandria," Artania argued.

"Gwok gwok Burmecia is our ally. We must help them," Cid stated.

"Steple-crowned hats... They might be black mages, like Vivi," Freya turned towards the mage in question.

"It can't be..." Vivi shook his head, still staring at the floor.

"It'll be alright," Seph placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Could it be Mother...!?" Dagger asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I must go now. I cannot sit and wait for the reinforcements," Freya made for the door.

"I'm coming with you," Zidane told her.

"Me too," Seph added, "I can't sit here when I can go and do something,"

"No. This doesn't concern you," She argued.

"What's this, I'm a stranger all of a sudden!? Seph's right, We're not gonna sit back and watch your home get destroyed, alright?" Zidane retorted.

"…Thank you, Zidane, Seph," Freya gave in.

"Um, c-can I come, too? I wanna find out who they really are," Vivi asked.

"Sure," Zidane nodded.

"Alright then. Let's go to Burmecia," Dagger said, approaching the group.

"Princess! This is a foreign matter! It has nothing to do with us!" Steiner pleaded.

"Steiner is right. We don't know if Alexandria is involved," Cid told her.

"But if black mages are involved... Zidane, you know what I'm talking about," Dagger turned to him, while Zidane didn't say anything, "If Mother is behind this, I'll make her stop! I promise!"

"...I think you should stay here," Zidane told her, hesitating to answer.

"What!?"

"We don't know what to expect there," Zidane informed her.

"I've already faced great danger coming here! What's the difference!?"

"Dagger, this is war. A lot of people are gonna die,"

"I know that!"

"...How did you feel when you saw that Burmecian soldier die, just now?"

"...I felt sad, of course."

"Just sad? Weren't you scared, too?" Zidane asked her, "Obviously, you haven't realized how dangerous this is gonna be... You could get killed. This is no time to be convincing your mother of anything,"

"But..." Dagger tried to speak up.

"Now's not the time to argue," Cid interrupted. "He's right. We must head to Burmecia at once. Will you open the Dragon's Gate?" Freya questioned. "Of course. If you're going by foot, leaving from that gate is the best way. Let us eat while we gwok wait for the gate to open." Cid proposed. "Good idea, I'm starved," Seph grinned.

* * *

And done, and that was unfortunately shorter than I thought it would be (and yes, I'm aware that there was pre set battles in the game, but I decided to do what I felt like). Anyway, with the festival over and done with, we can move onto Gizamaluke's Grotto. I'm still debating on whether I'll include Quina at this point or when the party leaves for the Outer Continent when you need him/her to find the entrance. To top this off, I'm unsure of what to do with the chocobo, as it's only one, it's not like the party can ride it around on the world map like in game, but at the same time, the treasure hunting could be fun (and I would like the group to face off against Ozma), but in my opinion, the party in reality would likely prioritise the saving of a city over random treasure hunting... Eh, I'll try and figure it out for the next chapter, so until then, please review (it keeps me going, even if it's only the two of you ^_^)

Oh, and if you were curious, the scores I dished out were 4-10 for a Trick Sparrow, 15-23 for a Fang, 10-20 for a Mu and 250-300 for the Zaghnol and used a random number formula to select the values. It was fun trying to work out who killed what to generate the scores. Also, if you wanted to know, the final tallies were;

Seph: 2 Mus, 4 Fangs, 5 Trick Sparrows and 1 Zaghnol for 426 points

Zidane: 4 Mus, 3 Fangs, 5 Trick Sparrows and 1 Zaghnol for 426 points

Freya: 2 Mus, 5 Fangs, 3 Trick Sparrows and 1 Zaghnol for 426 points

Vivi: 6 Mus, 4 Fangs, and 7 Trick Sparrows for 224 points


End file.
